Shortly after Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq, the Tehran-backed Lebanese organization Hezbollah urgently met with Iraqi militia leaders, seeking to unite them in the face of a huge void left by their powerful mentor’s death, two sources with...

Hundreds of people were injured in Beirut on Tuesday in clashes between security forces and protesters who rejected the new government as it sought to win a parliamentary vote of confidence. Smoke wafted through Beirut where riot police fired tear gas at protesters seeking to block MPs from...

Tens of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran and other cities on Tuesday morning to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, against a backdrop of escalating tensions with the United States. State TV showed video footage of rallies in at least half a...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday accused Iran of honing its ballistic missile skills through a satellite launch and vowed to exert more pressure. Iran, which is enemy number one for President Donald Trump's administration, said Sunday that it had successfully launched a...

Dozens of cars in an Israeli Arab village were vandalised overnight, police said Tuesday, with slogans sprayed on a mosque indicating the involvement of Jewish extremists. The slogans "Jews awaken" and "Stop assimilating" were scrawled on a mosque and another building in Jish, a small...

Residents of Baghdad rushed to have snowball fights or take photographs Tuesday as the Iraqi capital woke carpeted in white by only its second snowfall in a century. The last recorded snowfall in the city was in 2008, but it was a quick and mostly slushy affair -- and prior to that, it had...

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani charged Tuesday that the United States finds it "unbearable" that the Islamic Revolution remains in place 41 years after bringing down US ally the shah. "It is unbearable for the United States to accept the victory of a great nation and that a superpower has...

Lebanese security forces fired water canon at stone-throwing protesters seeking to prevent MPs and government officials from reaching parliament on Tuesday for a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s new cabinet. Tear gas wafted through central Beirut where security forces...

Thousands of Iranians massed on Tuesday for commemorations marking 41 years since the Islamic Revolution, in a show of unity at a time of heightened tensions with the United States. Waving flags of Iran and holding portraits of the founder of the Islamic republic, the late Ayatollah...

 France Monday condemned a bid by Iran to put a satellite in space, urging Tehran to abide by international obligations on its controversial ballistic missile programme. "France condemns this launch which calls on technologies used for ballistic missiles and, in particular,...

A hardline Iraqi faction hanged effigies of US President Donald Trump in Baghdad Monday, ahead of a memorial for their commander killed in a US strike. On Tuesday, the Iraqi capital will commemorate 40 days since Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq's powerful Hashed al-Shaabi...

The Palestinians have abandoned their request for a vote at the UN Security Council Tuesday on rejecting the US Mideast plan, over a lack of international support, diplomats said. Introduced by Indonesia and Tunisia, the resolution risked not having nine out of 15 votes in its favor, the...

Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian military commander killed in a U.S. drone strike on Jan. 3 in Baghdad, had sought to bring stability to the Middle East, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday. “Commander Soleimani was a man who was pursuing stability and calm in the region,” Rouhani...

On a crisp winter's day the snow glistens on the mountains above Tehran, but the mood is as heavy as the pall of pollution that often shrouds Iran's capital. In a country weighed down by sanctions, shaken by protests and stressed by military tensions with the United States, many Tehranis...

The United States has signaled to Iraq its willingness to extend sanctions waivers enabling the country to continue importing vital Iranian gas and electricity imports, three Iraqi officials said this week, a move that would be a key test of Baghdad-Washington ties. The decision comes amid...

An Egyptian delegation arrived in Gaza Monday seeking to ease tensions, a Hamas security source said, after Israel again attacked the enclave with air strikes in response to projectiles fired by militants. Egypt has long served as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist...

A reworked Palestinian resolution has dropped its initial condemnation of President Donald Trump's Mideast peace plan, opting for less confrontational language ahead of a UN Security Council vote, a copy obtained by AFP shows. The latest draft also no longer mentions the United States by...

An Iranian rocket failed to put a satellite into orbit on Sunday, state television reported, the latest setback for a programme the US claims helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program. The launch happened at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran’s Semnan province, some 230 kilometers...

 Iraq's incoming prime minister will face "hell" and be removed within days if he includes members of the political elite in his cabinet, a top aide to cleric Moqtada Sadr has warned. Premier-designate Mohammad Allawi has until March 2 to form a new cabinet, to be put to the...

Thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of the Moroccan capital Sunday to protest against a new US Middle East peace plan which the Palestinians say favours Israel. Carrying Palestinian flags, the demonstrators, including local politicians and trade unionists, marched in Rabat...