Iran's government and entities close to the elite Revolutionary Guards have signed major economic contracts with Syria, reaping what appear to be lucrative rewards for helping President Bashar al-Assad regain control of parts of his country from rebels. An opposition group condemned the...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he believed Russian-backed peace talks in Kazakhstan aimed to produce local "reconciliation" agreements with rebel groups whereby they would give up their weapons and receive a government pardon. Assad said in an interview with a Japanese TV station that...

After years of political deadlock, Lebanon finally has a new government. Now it needs a new economy. Battered by war in neighboring Syria, neglected by wrangling politicians and caught in rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the pillars of the economy - remittances from overseas workers,...

One of Syria's strongest rebel factions, the conservative Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group, said on Wednesday it will not attend peace talks to be held in Kazakhstan on Jan. 23. Several other leading rebel groups decided on Monday that they would be at the talks, which will be attended by the...