Iran is on course to breach a threshold in its nuclear agreement with world powers within days by accumulating more enriched uranium than permitted, although it has not done so yet, diplomats said, citing the latest data from U.N. inspectors. France, one of the European powers caught...

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Iran on Thursday not to quit its 2015 nuclear deal or give signals that it intended to do so, and said he would discuss efforts to avoid military escalation with U.S. President Donald Trump. U.S. allies in Europe have been alarmed by an escalation...

Bahrain's foreign minister has said Israel is part of the region's heritage and the Jewish people have "a place amongst us" in a rare interview of an Arab official by an Israeli journalist. The interview -- on the sidelines of the US-organised economic conference in Bahrain, intended to...

France reopened a revered but long-closed archaeological site in the heart of Jerusalem on Thursday, but a dispute over access immediately disrupted its reopening. France, the owner of the site known as the Tomb of the Kings, reopened it to visits after having kept it closed since 2010....

The 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, hailed at the time as a historic boost for regional peace, is unravelling before the eyes of its European backers who appear powerless in the face of US rejection of the accord, analysts say. The United States, under the presidency of Barack Obama, was among...

An economic conference intended to kickstart a Middle East peace initiative by US President Donald Trump's son-in-law has failed to convince Palestinians, who boycotted it and treated it with disdain or disinterest. In a rare show of unity, all Palestinian factions condemned the conference...

Hundreds of retired army officers burned tires blocking main highways into Lebanon’s capital on Thursday to protest cuts to their benefits as part of the 2019 draft budget. Lawmakers are debating the state budget in parliament this week after cabinet finalised it last month, a critical test...

The Iran-backed Lebanese Shi’ite group Hezbollah believes a U.S. war on Iran is unlikely and U.S. President Donald Trump would not be able to control the results of a conflict that could engulf the region. Sheikh Naim Qassem, in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Joumhouria newspaper, said such...

Iran is still short of the maximum amount of enriched uranium it is allowed to have under its deal with major powers but it is on course to reach that limit at the weekend, the latest data from U.N. nuclear inspectors shows, diplomats say. On Wednesday, the U.N. nuclear watchdog verified...

Palestinians poured scorn on the Trump administration’s much-touted peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Wednesday, saying its framework for a trade and investment boost ignored their political aspirations for statehood. Gulf states attending an international meeting in...

A claim by US officials that a retaliatory cyber attack ordered by the White House crippled Iranian missile launching systems will remain almost impossible to substantiate, experts say. Citing unnamed sources, US media reported last week that the attack launched by the US Cyber Command...

Iraqi President Barham Saleh said Wednesday his country must not be dragged into another conflict in the Middle East, as tensions rise over its neighbour Iran. "We have had four decades of challenge and turmoil. We do not want to be embroiled in another war," he said at Chatham House, the...

The offer by the United States to negotiate with Iran is a deception, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday in remarks published on his official website. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is willing to hold talks with the Islamic Republic. "Negotiations are a...

The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates said Wednesday that "clear, scientific and convincing" evidence was required on recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf region. Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was speaking in Moscow at a news conference with his...

The sultanate of Oman has announced it will open an embassy in the West Bank, in the city of Ramallah. The announcement comes as Bahrain hosts a workshop on a U.S. Mideast peace plan by the Trump administration, focusing on the Palestinian economy. A tweet from the Omani Foreign Ministry...

Growth in the West bank and Gaza has to be focused on creating jobs, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, as she discussed the Trump administration's $50 billion economic plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace. "One of the really good aspects of the plan ... is that it...

 Saudi Arabia's minister of state said that an economic plan presented by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner for the Palestinian territories could succeed since it includes private sector and if "there is hope of peace." "I truly believe it can be done if people do believe that...

Iran will speed up enrichment of uranium after a deadline given to European countries to prevent this ends Thursday, the spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said, according to the IRIB news agency. "The deadline of the Atomic Energy Organization for passing the production of...

President Hassan Rouhani said Iran "never seeks war" with the US, state media reported Wednesday amid a spike in tensions between the two countries. "Iran has no interest to increase tension in the region and it never seeks war with any country, including (the) US," the president said,...

Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on UN member states Tuesday to fund the agency that works to help Palestinian refugees as he opened a donors conference for the body, which is boycotted by the US. The conference was being held the same day the administration of President Donald...