France, Germany, Spain and the U.K. have strongly condemned the Israel’s latest move to demolish Palestinian homes in the southeast of Jerusalem. A joint statement by the governments of the four countries said they “remain seriously concerned by the continued demolition of Palestinian...

U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to decide soon on when to release a plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, his Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt told the United Nations Security Council Tuesday. "President Trump has not yet decided when we will release the political portion...

Iraqi security forces are sweeping villages and farmland north of Baghdad as part of an operation aimed at clearing remaining militants belonging to the Islamic State group from around the country's capital. A military helicopter flew over army units in the area as troops on the ground...

Israeli forces rounded up nine Palestinians in overnight raids carried out across the occupied West Bank, according to the military on Tuesday.  A military statement said the individuals had been arrested for “suspected involvement in popular terror activities", without elaborating...

Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that Iran's interception of commercial vessels, including its seizure of a British tanker, in Gulf waters was a violation of international law and urged the global community to deter such actions. "Any disruption of the freedom of international maritime traffic is...

raq Tuesday began exhuming the remains of dozens of victims, including children, likely killed during ex-dictator Saddam Hussein's campaign against the country's Kurds, a forensics official told AFP. The mass grave was uncovered in Tal al-Sheikhiya, about 300 kilometers south of Baghdad,...

Iran said it will attend a meeting in Vienna Sunday of diplomats from countries still party to the 2015 nuclear deal, as they try to salvage the landmark agreement. The hard-won deal has been threatened with collapse since the United States withdrew from it last year and reimposed biting...

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that it is getting harder for him to want to make a deal with Iran and said the situation could go either way very easily. Trump made the comments to reporters at the White House amid tensions with Tehran. Iran said earlier Monday it had captured 17...

Shipping associations have called on ship owners to inform Britain's navy of their movements before sailing into the Middle East Gulf and Strait of Hormuz because of the escalating international crisis in the region. About a fifth of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz and...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday dismissed Iran’s announcement it had captured 17 spies working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and sentenced some to death. Iran made the announcement in state media, saying the alleged spies had been arrested in the 12 months to March...

Turkey would retaliate against what it called an unacceptable threat of U.S. sanctions over Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile defenses, its foreign minister said on Monday, adding he thinks President Donald Trump wants to avoid such measures. Turkey began receiving deliveries of...

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the objective of a US plan for Middle East peace was to "destroy Palestinian identity", as he met Monday with a Hamas delegation. US President Donald Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner has been pushing what he calls the...

Iran has captured 17 spies allegedly working for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and some have been sentenced to death, Iranian media reported on Monday, amid soaring tensions between Tehran and Washington. The agencies "successfully dismantled a (CIA) spy network," the head of...

ran's state TV says a delegation from Hamas that is visiting Iran has met with the country's supreme leader. The TV report Monday says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei held talks with Hamas' deputy chief, Saleh al-Arouri, who is heading the delegation. The Hamas delegation also met with Kamal...

Britain was weighing its next moves in the Gulf tanker crisis on Sunday, with few good options apparent as a recording emerged showing that the Iranian military defied a British warship when it boarded and seized a ship three days ago. Prime Minister Theresa May’s office said she would...

Israeli forces began demolishing buildings near a military barrier on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Monday, in the face of Palestinian protests and international criticism. Bulldozers accompanied by hundreds of Israeli soldiers and police moved in to Sur Baher, a Palestinian village on the...

The U.S. special envoy for Syria is in Turkey for talks with Turkish officials over Syria, counter-terrorism and security, the State Department said Sunday.  James Jeffrey, who also serves as the U.S. special envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh, will have meetings on Monday...

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner will lead a U.S. delegation on a tour of the Middle East to finalize details of his proposed $50 billion economic development plan for the Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, an administration official said on Sunday. Kushner, Middle East envoy...

Long-serving Iraqi Kurdish natural resources minister, Ashti Hawrami, will take up an advisory role of Assistant Prime Minister for Energy Affairs in Prime Minister Masrour Barazani's newly-formed cabinet, Kurdish lawmakers said Sunday. Hawrami, the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG)...

An Israeli minister boasted Sunday that his country was the only one that "has been killing Iranians," after tensions between Britain and Iran rose in the Gulf. Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi's comments to public radio were a reference to Israeli strikes in neighboring Syria...