European foreign ministers met their Iranian counterpart on Friday hoping to test Tehran’s readiness to negotiate a new nuclear deal despite there being scant prospect of Israel ceasing its attacks soon, diplomats said. European ministers spoke in advance to US Secretary of State Marco...

For days, Syrians have watched as Iranian missiles and Israeli interceptors light up the skies over their territory, but the new government in Damascus has so far remained officially silent on the unprecedented conflict. Iran was one of former ruler Bashar al-Assad’s biggest backers,...

When Bashar al-Assad ruled Syria, the farmers of al-Nashabiyah, once a hotbed of opposition to then president, struggled to water their crops because army officers diverted rivers and canals to their own farms. The farmers hoped for some reprieve after Assad’s 24 years of autocratic rule...

China urged Iran and Israel to “immediately” take steps to reduce tensions on Monday after Tehran unleashed a barrage of missile strikes on Israeli cities and Israel struck military targets deep inside Iran. “We urge all parties to immediately take measures to cool down the tensions,...