In the early days of the assault on Islamic State in Mosul, Iran successfully pressed Iraq to change its battle plan and seal off the city, an intervention which has since shaped the tortuous course of the conflict, sources briefed on the plan say. The original campaign strategy called for...

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a potential U.S.-Russia deal to allow Syrian rebels to safely leave Aleppo was still on the agenda, but that no talks were planned between the two countries for now. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call that Russian and U.S....

 Syrian rebels in besieged eastern Aleppo called for an immediate five-day ceasefire, negotiations about the future of the city and for medical and civilian evacuations, in a humanitarian plan published on Wednesday. A Turkey-based rebel official told Reuters the plan had been sent to...

Syrian regime forces control all of Aleppo's historic Old City after rebel fighters withdrew in the face of army advances overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday. The army and allied forces hold more than 75 percent of east Aleppo, a rebel bastion since 2012,...