Security forces shot live rounds to clear protest hotspots in Baghdad and southern Iraq for a second day Sunday, sparking skirmishes with demonstrators determined to keep up their movement. Violence has resurged in the capital and Shiite-majority south this week, with more than 15 people...

The United States will not lift sanctions on Iran in order to negotiate, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted late on Saturday, seemingly in response to a Der Spiegel interview with Iran’s foreign minister. “Iranian Foreign Minister says Iran wants to negotiate with The United States, but...

The death toll from Friday's powerful earthquake in eastern Turkey rose to 31, the country's disaster relief agency said. So far, 1,547 people have been reported injured as rescue workers continue recovering victims buried under the rubble, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management...

Iran has the capacity to enrich uranium at any percentage if Iranian authorities decide to do so, the deputy head of the country’s nuclear agency said in a report posted on its website on Saturday. “At the moment, if (Iranian authorities) make the decision, the Atomic Energy Organization,...

Iran is not ruling out negotiations with the United States even after an American drone strike that killed a top Iranian general, the country's foreign minister said in an interview released Saturday. Mohammed Javad Zarif told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine that he would "never rule out the...

Three protesters were shot dead on Saturday in Iraq's capital and south, medics told AFP, as demonstrators clashed with security forces clearing streets and squares occupied for months by protesters. One demonstrator was killed in the capital Baghdad and two others were shot in the southern...

Pope Francis met Iraq's president Saturday and the two agreed that the country's sovereignty must be respected, following attacks on Iraqi territory this month by the United States and Iran. President Barham Salih held private talks for about 30 minutes with the pope and then met the...

Iran condemned Saturday what it called the "illegal and inhuman" treatment of its nationals by U.S. border security officers, after reports a student was deported despite having a valid visa. "Such absolutely discriminatory measures that only happen over people's race, nationality or...

Iraqi security forces cleared anti-government protesters from streets and squares in Baghdad and the south on Saturday, AFP journalists reported, stoking protester fears their long-running campaign risks being sidelined. It came a day after populist politician Moqtada Sadr organised his own...

After President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will finally launch his long-awaited Middle East peace plan next week, the response among many Palestinians Friday was a collective shrug. Trump said the plan, which has been delayed multiple times, would finally be released by next...

Search and rescue efforts are underway after a deadly earthquake rattled eastern Turkey, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 1,015 others, according to authorities on Saturday. The 6.8-magnitude quake hit eastern Elazig province at 8.55 p.m. local time (1755GMT) on Friday,...

Thousands of supporters of an influential, radical Shiite cleric gathered Friday in central Baghdad for a rally to demand that American troops leave the country amid heightened anti-US sentiment after a drone strike ordered by Washington earlier this month killed a top Iranian general in the...

Iraq has approved contracts in a fifth bid round for exploration contracts the east of the country, the government said in a statement Thursday. The exploration deals in Diyala province are to develop fields that are expected to produce 750 million cubic feet of natural gas within 36...

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced Iran on Thursday as “the most anti-Semitic regime on the planet”, telling world leaders at a Holocaust memorial event that Israel would always defend itself against those seeking to destroy it. Israel has hailed the World Holocaust...

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday that Russia's S-400 air defence system was compatible with NATO, which needed to set up a working group to study it. "The claim is that the S400 and F-35s are incompatible. That's the claim. Here is our proposal, let’s have a working...

Lebanon's Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni said Thursday that foreign donors were waiting to see what reforms the new government would enact and whether it was ready for support. "The entire international community has its eye on what this government will do," he said in televised comments....

An Iraqi demonstrator was shot dead in the southern city of Basra overnight, a security source and the human rights commission said Thursday, the latest in a string of protester deaths. The anti-government demonstrations rocking the Iraqi capital and the Shiite-majority south since October...

The U.S. special representative for Iran said the successor to Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike, would suffer the same fate if he followed a similar path of killing Americans, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported. Washington blamed Soleimani for masterminding attacks by...

 Dozens of world leaders will convene in Jerusalem on Thursday to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, amid a backdrop of rising anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States. However, the president of Poland, where the Nazi concentration camp was built during the...

Iran welcomes dialogue with its Gulf neighbors, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday, amid heightened tension in the Middle East. “Iran remains open to dialogue with its neighbours and we announce our readiness to participate in any complementary work that is in...