Iraq has only 190,000 tons of rice available in its coffers for its food rationing program, the trade ministry said in a statement late Saturday. The country needs around 1-1.25 million tons of rice a year to support the program. In March, the trade ministry pleaded for money from the...

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said any negotiations with the United States would be "futile" as he delivered his first major speech to the conservative-dominated chamber Sunday. Ghalibaf, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards' air force, was elected speaker...

Iran's interior minister has suggested that up to 225 people were killed in November protests sparked by a petrol price hike, ISNA news agency reported on Sunday. Officials in Iran have yet to issue an overall death toll for the unrest, while London-based human rights group Amnesty...

Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque reopened to worshippers on Sunday after a two-and-a-half month coronavirus closure, but Muslim authorities imposed some precautions as health officials warn of an uptick in local infections. The resumption of prayers at Islam's third-holiest site caps a sombre...