Iran has rejected as "unrealistic" a call by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the United Nations to extend an international arms embargo on Tehran that ends in October, state TV reported Monday. The GCC, made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi...

The Taliban said Monday they were ready for peace talks with the Afghan government, as authorities announced that the release of hundreds of militants accused of serious offences would begin in the next few days. The fate of some 400 Taliban prisoners has been a crucial hurdle in launching...

Lebanon's government was teetering Monday as two ministers' resignations over the deadly Beirut port explosion threatened to snowball and protesters' fury on the scarred streets showed no sign of abating. The under-fire cabinet, struggling to weather the political storm, was due to meet in...

The Israeli military said late Sunday that it struck a Hamas target in the northern Gaza Strip in response to the continued launches of explosives-laden balloons from the Palestinian territory into Israel. In a brief statement, the army said an aircraft struck a Hamas observation post in...