With tensions soaring in the Middle East, the United States says that Iran along with its proxies might attack Israel as early as this week. The world leaders are trying to persuade Iran and Israel to avoid war, but Iran says it has a right to defend itself just like...

Iran blames Haniyeh's death on Israel and has vowed to avenge him, while Hamas's Lebanese ally Hizbollah has also pledged to retaliate for his killing and that of its military commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike in Beirut hours earlier.

US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the attack, the White House said. "They discussed the steps we are taking to defend our forces and respond to any attack against our personnel in a manner and place of our choosing," it said in a statement.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his counterparts from the G7 nations that any attack could happen within 24 to 48 hours, as early as Monday

The political head of Palestinian group Hamas was killed early on Wednesday in Tehran, where he had attended the inauguration of Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran and the Hamas, which Tehran supports, vowed to retaliate and blamed the strike on Israel, which has declined to comment.

Israel on Saturday again traded fire with Hezbollah, carried out a deadly raid in the occupied West Bank, and struck a school compound in Gaza City in an attack that the Hamas-ruled territory's civil defence agency said killed at least 17 people.

Haniyeh was laid to rest in Lusail, north of the capital Doha, following funeral prayers at the Gulf emirate's largest mosque attended by thousands of people. he burial was restricted to a small number of people including one of Haniyeh's daughters, Sara, who shared a video on social media showing her...

Biden, who was joined on the call by Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, also emphasized the "ongoing efforts to de-escalate broader tensions in the region," the White House said in a statement. The call between the leaders also came after Israel announced it had "eliminated Hezbollah military...

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, addressing the funeral of the Lebanese group's top military commander, said Israel and "those who are behind it must await our inevitable response" to Fuad Shukr's and Haniyeh's killings within hours of each other. "You do not know what red lines you crossed," Nasrallah said, addressing...

Khamenei, who has the final say in Iran's political affairs, said after Haniyeh's death that it was "our duty to seek revenge for his blood as he was martyred in the territory of the Islamic republic of Iran". The Hamas leader was in Tehran for the inauguration ceremony of newly...

The meeting has been requested by Iran and supported by representatives of Russia, China and Algeria, said a spokesman for the Russian presidency, which holds the rotating leadership of the council. Separately, UN chief Antonio Guterres denounced the attacks on Tehran as well as Beirut as a "dangerous escalation".

"The residence of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political office of Hamas Islamic Resistance, was hit in Tehran, and as a result of this incident, him and one of his bodyguards were martyred," said a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps's Sepah news website.

In a message read by the director of Khamenei's office, he said: "I endorse the vote (for) the wise, honest, popular and scholarly Mr Pezeshkian, and I am appointing him as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran". The new reformist president is due to be sworn in before...

In the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini in southern Tehran, Pezeshkian gave a speech thanking his supporters, saying their votes have "given hope to a society plunged into an atmosphere of dissatisfaction". "I did not give false promises in this election," said Pezeshkian, flanked by former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israel said Friday that "gaps" remained with Hamas on how to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release but that it will send a delegation for fresh talks with Qatari mediators next week.The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman came after a delegation led by the head...

Iran held the first round of its snap presidential election last week which was marked by a record low turnout. Only 40 percent of Iran's 61 million eligible voters cast their ballots in the first round -- the lowest turnout in any presidential election since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

In a contest between reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, the election comes amid heightened regional tension

Tehran, Iran - Iranians voted in a presidential election on Friday marked by a lone reformist's bid to break through against a divided conservative field.Voting was extended three times and eventually ended at midnight (2030 GMT), with around 61 million Iranians eligible to cast ballots after the death of ultraconservative president...

Polls in Iran opened on Friday for a presidential election following the death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month.Around 61 million Iranians are eligible to vote in the polls where reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, 69, hopes for a breakthrough win against a divided conservative camp.The Guardian...

Iranians vote on Friday to elect a new president from six candidates, including a lone reformist who hopes he can challenge the dominance of conservatives in the Islamic republic.A presidential election had not been due until 2025 but was brought forward after ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash...

Men and women thronged the main boulevard of Mashhad, Iran's second city in the northeast where Raisi was born, bidding farewell to the late President

Paris, France -- Iran's powerful allies on Monday mourned the death of its President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, while regional groups hailed him as a supporter of the Palestinian cause.Russia and China called the deceased leader a "friend", while Iran's arch-foes the United States and Israel had yet to...

"The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, had an accident while serving and performing his duty for the people of Iran and was martyred," Iran's Mehr agency said as other media outlets also reported the news.

Search and rescue teams are looking for the crash site in the remote mountain area, says Iranian state media, adding that Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was also aboard the aircraft.

Tehran, Iran - India and Iran on Monday signed a 10-year contract to develop and equip the strategic Chabahar port in Iran as India seeks to grow trade in west and central Asia.The agreement will give India 10-year access to use the port, located close to Iran's southeastern border with Pakistan,...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday for tighter defence integration among Gulf Arabs in response to Iran, part of efforts to encourage moderation by Israel by dangling the prospect of better ties with the region.Blinken was starting his seventh visit to the Middle East since the October 7...

The United States was among the first to cut ties with Assad over the repression of anti-government protests that sparked war in 2011, and many Western and Arab states also severed relations.

Iran downplayed Israel's reported retaliation for its unprecedented drone and missile attack, tamping down fears that escalating attacks between the arch enemies could tip over into a broader war in the Middle East. However a deadly blast at an Iraqi military base underlined the persisting tensions in the region.

Tehran, Iran - Iran managed to sell an average of 1.56 million barrels per day during the first quarter of this year, primarily to China, data from Vortexa reveals. This marks the highest export level since the third quarter of 2018.The success in oil exports highlights the challenges faced by...

An unidentified Israeli official told The Washington Post the "strike" was retaliation for Iran's drone and missile barrage and was intended to signal that Israel was able to hit inside Iran. Iran's Tasnim news agency, citing "informed sources", denied that Iran had been attacked from outside.

Israeli strikes on Friday targeted a Syrian army position in the country's south, a war monitor said, as US media reported Israel had carried out hits on its arch-rival Iran.Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the strikes, which he attributed to Israel, "targeted...

The United States announced Tuesday that it was preparing new sanctions on Iran's missile and drone program after last weekend’s attack on Israel, and the EU's foreign policy chief signaled the bloc would levy new punitive measures as well.Iran has characterized its attack on Israel as an act of self-defense...

Stock markets fell and oil prices climbed Tuesday on growing fears of a wider war in the Middle East after Israel's army chief vowed a response to Iran's unprecedented attack on his country at the weekend.The selling came after Wall Street's three main indexes tanked in response to forecast-beating US...

Gulf states are grappling with the widening Middle East conflict as hostilities between Iran and Israel threaten their security and ambitious plans to reshape their economies.Leaders of the resource-rich Gulf monarchies engaged in a rapid round of diplomacy after last weekend's Iranian drone and missile strikes on Israel raised the...

Tehran, IranIran temporarily closed its nuclear facilities over "security considerations" in the wake of its massive missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend, the head of the UN's atomic watchdog said Monday.Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a UN Security Council meeting, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)...

The Kremlin on Monday called for a de-escalation in the Middle East after Iran's unprecedented weekend attack on Israel."We are extremely concerned about the escalation of tensions in the region and we call on all countries in the region to exercise restraint. Further escalation is in no one's interests," Kremlin...

Saturday's bombardment of more than 300 ballistic and cruise missiles and attack drones -- which were mostly repelled by air defenses -- compounded worries about the outlook for US interest rates following more forecast-beating inflation and jobs data.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) says the Iranian armed forces’ attack on the Israeli regime was carried out based on Article 51 of the UN Charter, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).Under UN Chapter VII's 'Action with respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace,...

Iran's UN envoy, Amir Saeid Iravani, retorted that the Islamic republic was exercising its "inherent right to self-defence" and "had no choice" but to act. He insisted his country did "not seek escalation or war", but would respond to any "threat or aggression".

Iran's attack came in retaliation for an April 1 strike that levelled the five-storey consular annexe of the Iranian embassy in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals. Tehran has since vowed to avenge the strike which was widely blamed on Israel.

As expected, Iran retaliated early Sunday by firing more than 200 drones and missiles toward Israel in response to Israel's covert attack of Iran's diplomatic office in Damascus that killed nine people.

Fears of regional escalation grew after a strike on Iran's consular annex at its embassy in Damascus. Tehran blames the attack on Israel. Airlines said they are avoiding Iranian airspace, nearly two weeks after a strike.

The latest bombardments in Gaza came after Israel said it had strengthened air defences and paused leave for combat units, following a deadly April 1 air strike that destroyed Iran's consulate building in Damascus. Iran blamed its arch foe Israel, which has stepped up strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria...

"Our enemies think that they can pull apart Israel and the United States, but the opposite is true -- they are bringing us together," Gallant said, after the two discussed Iran's threats of retaliation for a deadly air strike on its consulate in Syria.

London, United Kingdom -- Wall Street stocks slid on Friday despite banks beating expectations at the start of earnings season as oil and gold prices shot up amid worries about the conflict in the Middle East widening."Geopolitical worries have triggered some risk aversion, but worries about a growth slowdown have presumably...

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Wednesday that Israel "must be punished and will be punished", days after one of his advisers said Israeli embassies are "no longer safe". Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz swiftly replied on social media site X that "if Iran attacks from its territory, Israel...

Amir-Abdollahian is set to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad during the visit, while Syria's information ministry said he was to inaugurate a new Iranian consular section. Syria's pro-government newspaper Al-Watan said the officials' talks would be "mainly focused" on repercussions of last week's strike.

The Damascus airstrike targeted the Iranian consulate, resulting in the death of IRGC commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi and several other IRGC officers. Since then, Iran has issued threats of a "harsh response" against Israel.

TEHRAN, IRAN – Iran and Iraq will launch the first maritime passenger transport line within the next two months, an official at Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) said.The chief executive of the organization noted that an expert-level meeting was held by the Iraqi side with a focus on the...

Tehran, Iran - Iran on Saturday again threatened retaliation for the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guards in a strike on Damascus, with the army chief saying his country's enemies will "regret" the killings.Tehran has vowed to avenge Monday's air strike on the Syrian capital it blamed on its arch-enemy Israel, which...