President Donald Trump said Friday he ordered the killing of Qassem Soleimani to stop a war, not start one, saying the Iranian military commander was planning imminent attacks on Americans. "Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military...

 Iran has vowed “harsh retaliation” for a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad's airport that killed Tehran's top general and the architect of its interventions across the Middle East, as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing. The killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of...

For Iranians whose icons since the Islamic Revolution have been stern-faced clergy, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani widely represented a figure of national resilience in the face of four decades of U.S. pressure. For the U.S. and Israel, he was a shadowy figure in command of Iran's proxy...

 Turkey's parliament on Thursday authorized the deployment of troops to Libya to support the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli that is battling forces loyal to a rival government seeking to capture the capital. Turkish lawmakers voted 325-184 at an emergency session in favor of a...

Baghdad (AP) — At least three Katyusha rockets were fired at Baghdad International Airport Friday, killing four people and setting cars on fire, Iraqi security officials said. Iraq’s Security Media Cell, which releases information regarding Iraqi security, said the rockets landed near...

Saudi Arabia condemned attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the Saudi foreign ministry said in statement published by the kingdom's official press agency Thursday. Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups who stormed the U.S. Embassy perimeter in two days of protests...

Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday refused to rule on a request by lawyers seeking to prevent indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government after looming elections. The lawyers took their case to Israel's highest court on Tuesday, arguing that Netanyahu's indictment...

Beirut received an arrest warrant from Interpol regarding ex-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn who escaped from Japan to Lebanon, Lebanese Justice Minister said in a Thursday statement.  A red notice has been received from the Interpol, Albert Serhan added. On Tuesday, Lebanese Interior...

Elite Iraqi troops deployed to secure the US embassy Thursday, a day after a pro-Iran mob laid siege to it in dramatic scenes that overshadowed months of anti-government grassroots protests. The unprecedented attack on the American mission in Baghdad -- in which intruders threw rocks, laid...

An Iraqi activist was shot dead overnight in Baghdad, a police source told AFP Thursday, as anti-government rallies carried on despite a separate day-long siege of the U.S. embassy. The activist, Saadoun al-Luhaybi, was shot in the head in a southwestern neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital,...

A top Iranian commander said on Thursday that Iran was not moving toward a war but was not afraid of any conflict, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported after U.S. President Donald Trump said Tehran was behind anti-U.S. protests in Iraq. Trump accused Iran of orchestrating...

Iraqi oil exports fell to 3.428 million barrels per day (bpd) in December from 3.5 million bpd the previous month, the oil ministry's spokesman said Thursday. Exports from its southern Basra terminals reached 3.326 million bpd, down from 3.4 million bpd in November, spokesman Asim Jihad...

A top Iranian commander said Thursday that Iran was not moving towards a war but was not afraid of any conflict, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported after U.S. President Donald Trump said Tehran was behind anti-U.S. protests in Iraq. Trump accused Iran of orchestrating...

Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups who stormed the U.S. embassy’s perimeter and hurled rocks in two days of protests withdrew on Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops and threatened reprisals against Tehran.     The demonstrators, angry at U.S. air...

Thousands of supporters of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement, which rivals Gaza's rulers Hamas, held a rare gathering in the enclave on Wednesday to mark the party's 55th anniversary. Waving yellow Fatah flags, supporters from across the territory gathered in Gaza City to...

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei strongly condemned U.S. attacks on Iran-allied militia group in Iraq, Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday, blaming the United States for the violence in the neighbouring country. “The Iranian government, nation and I strongly condemn the...

Pro-Iran protesters dug in outside the US embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday, throwing rocks and burning US flags a day after making a dramatic incursion into the compound. Thousands of Iraqi supporters of the largely Iranian-trained Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force had gathered at the...

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday that he has decided to immediately dispatch a battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division to Iraq following violent protests at the American embassy in Baghdad. "At the direction of the Commander in Chief @POTUS, I have authorized the deployment of...

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Iran will pay a heavy price for any attack on the American embassy in Baghdad amid protests against U.S. airstrikes in Iraq over the weekend. In a pair of tweets, Trump said the diplomatic compound is safe and additional forces had arrived on the...

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's dream project of building a canal in Istanbul to rival those at Suez and Panama has turned into a political showdown with the city's new mayor. Ekrem Imamoglu, who won a shock victory for the opposition in 2019 to become mayor of Turkey's largest city, says...