The strikes hit "locations in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, including areas where our security forces are stationed", Awadi said. The United States carried out the strikes on Friday in retaliation for the killing of three US military personnel in a drone attack on a base close to Jordan's border...

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on all parties to avoid further escalation in the Middle East after US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria and Iraq. "Everybody should try to avoid that the situation becomes explosive," Borrell said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

"The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond," US president Joe Biden said.

"Any (US) strike will result in an appropriate response," Al-Nujaba leader Akram al-Kaabi said in a statement, adding the group would continue its actions until its demands are met for US troops to leave Iraq and an end to Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 38-year-old de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, greeted Sheikh Meshal at the airport in Riyadh as trumpets played, 21 rounds were fired and the Saudi Falcons, the air force's aerobatics team, put on an air show, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Israel's relentless military offensive has since killed at least 26,422 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the territory's health ministry. The Gaza war has forced more than one million Palestinians to flee to the far-southern Rafah area near the Egyptian border, according to the UN,...

US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that "radical Iran-backed fighters groups operating in Syria and Iraq" were behind the strike on the frontier base in Jordan's northeast. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron reiterated a call for Iran "to de-escalate in the region".

Baghdad, Iraq - Iraq and the United States on Saturday held a "first round" of talks on the future of American and other foreign troops in the country, with the Middle Eastern country expecting discussions to lead to a timeline for reducing their presence.The office of Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani...

New York, United States - The United States will begin talks with Iraq on the withdrawal of US troops from this Middle Eastern country, CNN reported on Wednesday citing sources familiar with the matter."The US and Iraq are close to agreement on starting the Higher Military Commission dialogue that was announced...

The US strikes come against an already explosive regional backdrop, fueled by the war in Gaza between Washington's ally Israel and the Iranian-backed Hamas. The US Central Command said the strikes targeted Ketaeb Hizbollah "headquarters, storage, and training locations for rocket, missile, and one-way attack UAV (drone) capabilities".

Built more than a decade ago at the height of Iraq's civil war which tore apart the multi-faith, multi-ethnic country, authorities say the wall must remain to prevent the threat of jihadist violence, even as security has gradually improved across the country. There are three tightly controlled checkpoints in the...

Al-Asad airbase was targeted by 15 rockets" fired from Anbar province, which is home to the military base, an Iraqi police official from the region told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said 13 of the projectiles were shot down by anti-air defenses but that "two fell on the...

Doha, Qatar - Roberto Mancini warned Saudi Arabia against falling victim to the kind of Asian Cup shock suffered by favorites Japan when his side face Kyrgyzstan on Sunday.Saudi Arabia fought back to beat Oman 2-1 in stoppage time in their opening match in Qatar and can seal their place in...

US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria have been hit by some 140 attacks since mid-October, according to the Pentagon -- many of which have been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. On January 4, a US strike in central Baghdad killed a pro-Iran commander who Washington said...

Doha, Qatar - Aymen Hussein scored two first-half headers as Iraq stunned Asian Cup favorites Japan 2-1 on Friday to reach the knockout rounds.It was Japan's first Asian Cup group-stage defeat in 26 matches and set them on a potential collision course with South Korea in the last 16 in Qatar,...

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had destroyed the "Zionist regime's spy headquarters in the Kurdistan region of Iraq." The strike came "in response to the recent vicious actions of the Zionist regime which martyred the commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and the resistance front," a Guards statement carried by Iran's...

The IRGC also hit targets in Syria with ballistic missiles, including the "gathering places of commanders and main elements related to recent terrorist operations, particularly the Islamic State group", their Sepah News service reported. It added that the strike on Syria was in response to recent attacks by terrorist groups...

Qamishli, Syria - Hundreds of northeast Syrian villages and towns have lost power after Turkish strikes pounded electricity stations and infrastructure, the region's semi-autonomous Kurdish administration said on Monday.The Kurdish administration said Turkey launched a slew of strikes since Friday, mostly concentrated on infrastructure including power stations and oil refineries.Turkey said...

Violence involving Iran-aligned groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria has surged since the war in Gaza began in early October. The Houthis, who say they are acting in solidarity with Gaza, have carried out a growing number of attacks on what they deem Israeli-linked shipping on the key Red...

The Turkish ministry said the strikes had targeted 29 locations including "caves, bunkers, shelters and oil installations" belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the YPG (People's Protection Units), a Syrian Kurdish militia which is a central element of US-allied forces in a coalition against Islamic State. Meanwhile, 113...

Britain, the United States and eight allies said the strikes aimed to "de-escalate tensions". But Iran and other governments condemned the Western action or warned that unrest could worsen. The UN Security Council was due to hold an emergency meeting on the strikes on Friday, days after adopting a resolution...

"We have repeatedly expressed our views to the authorities of the countries of the region, including Iraq, and declared that the presence of American forces in any form whatsoever... would not help to maintain stability and peace," said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.

Sudani, whose government relies on support from Tehran-aligned parties, has repeatedly said in recent weeks he would like to see foreign troops leave Iraq. But the latest remarks came amid soaring regional tensions, with the repercussions of the Israel-Hamas war, raging for nearly three months, increasingly felt in Iraq and...

Baghdad, Iraq - A "US strike" in Baghdad on Thursday killed a military commander of the Hashed al-Shaabi, the ex-paramilitary force said, with an Iraq security official reporting two deaths in a drone attack."A drone targeted the logistical support headquarters of Hashed al-Shaabi," mainly pro-Iranian former paramilitary units integrated into the...

Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, who was sworn in as emir last month, named Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salem Al-Sabah, a popular ex-foreign minister, as the new premier. He replaces Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, son of the late emir whose death has raised hopes of a political shift in the country.

The rally, called by a foundation which counts Bilal Erdogan, the son of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, among its members started after crowds performed morning prayers at Istanbul's iconic mosques, including Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Air strikes in eastern Syria "likely" launched by Israel killed at least 19 pro-Iran fighters, a war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "19 pro-Iranian fighters, including four Syrians, and six Iraqis, were killed and more than 18 were wounded" in at least nine air strikes overnight...

Houthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling Hamas. The attacks are endangering a transit route that carries up to 12 percent of global trade, prompting the United States to set...

"My country, always at the request of the Iraqi authorities, will support the unity, sovereignty and stability of Iraq," said Sanchez during a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani. Spain has deployed more than 300 soldiers as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition and NATO's mission in...

"It runs counter to the pursuit of enduring mutual interests in establishing security and stability, and it opposes the declared intention of the American side to enhance relations with Iraq," Baghdad said.

Ankara has operated several dozen military posts in the area for the past 25 years in its decades-old war against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group blacklisted by Turkey and many of its Western allies as a terrorist organization. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for retaliation...

Ankara, Turkey - Six Turkish soldiers were killed and one wounded when their base in northern Iraq was attacked by members of a Kurdish party outlawed by Ankara, the defense ministry said on Saturday.Turkey has operated several dozen military posts in northern Iraq for the past 25 years in its decades-old...

Officially taking over from his half-brother Sheikh Nawaf, who passed away on Saturday, Sheikh Meshal is faced with the task of pulling the country out of longstanding political paralysis and reforming a bloated public sector that have turned Kuwait into one of the Gulf's most laggard states.

The vote is expected to consolidate the position of the ruling Coordination Framework coalition, an Iran-aligned bloc that brings together Shiite Islamist parties with factions of Hashed al-Shaabi, a network of former paramilitary units integrated into the regular army.

There have been near-daily cross-border exchanges between Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Hamas ally in Lebanon, and Israel since the Palestinian group's unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel.

With less than 48 hours left before the conference's official end, COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber invited ministers to give their views in a "majlis" -- a traditional Gulf Arab meeting held in a circle. While Jaber called the gathering in an effort to produce a compromise, warning that "failure...

Baghdad, Iraq -- Sixty percent of farmers surveyed in four provinces of drought-hit Iraq reported having to reduce cultivated areas or water used, an international rights group said Sunday.The Norwegian Refugee Council called on the Iraqi authorities to improve governance of water resources in the country that has been described as...

Ravaged by war and rocked by Islamic State group attacks, Iraq's demand for mental health professionals is great, but help is hard to come by. Baghdad's Al-Rashad psychiatric hospital receives patients suffering from serious psychological illnesses, such as schizophrenia, and offers outpatient treatment for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Due to US sanctions against Iran, Baghdad cannot pay Tehran directly for its gas. Baghdad's unpaid bills to Tehran for past gas imports amount to some $10 billion, according to the senior official.

President Ebrahim Raisi has said Iran sees it as "its duty to support the resistance groups" but insisted that they act independently.

The forces encountered an IED (improvised explosive device) blast near the Mosul dam, the military official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. No casualties were reported. This is the latest in a growing series of attacks on US personnel in the region, following the outbreak of the war between...

Washington, United States - Over the last three weeks, Iran-backed militia groups have attacked US bases and facilities in Iraq and Syria 41 times. The US has defended itself against those attacks and will continue to do so, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East said.Following the...

Baghdad, Iraq - An international summit in Baghdad on "regional stability" planned for late November has been postponed due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, an Iraqi official told AFP on Thursday.The third edition of the Baghdad conference "for economic integration and regional stability", co-organised by France, "is postponed until further notice...

To encourage renewable energy, Iraq's Central Bank in 2022 announced the allocation of $750 million in almost zero-interest loans for individuals and private companies adopting solar power. But the initiative is "stalling due to a lack of cooperation from banks", according to Mohamed al-Duleimi, an expert in renewable energies.

Its revenue rose to US$4.72bn in the first 9 months of 2023.

United Nations - The United Nations on Monday warned that Syria was at its "most dangerous" point in a long time as violence surges and as "spillover" from the Israel-Hamas war starts to have an impact.Syria has "seen growing instability and violence, exacerbated by the lack of a meaningful political...

Erected at the entrance to the ancient city of Khorsabad, the sculpture shows the Lamassu, an Assyrian deity with a human head, the body of a bull and the wings of a bird.

Since Wednesday, three Iraqi bases used by US-led coalition troops have been targeted in five separate attacks -- Ain al-Assad, the Al-Harir base in northern Iraq and a military camp near Baghdad airport. The United States currently has about 2,500 troops stationed at the three bases, alongside around 1,000 soldiers...

Baghdad, Iraq - US troops stationed at two bases in Iraq have been targeted with rocket attacks that caused no casualties, US and Iraqi military sources said Friday, against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war.Armed factions close to Iran have threatened to attack US interests in Iraq over Washington's support for...

Baghdad, Iraq - Saudi banks have offered to fund Iraq's largest housing project, which was previously stalled by South Korea's Hanwha Company due to a financial dispute with the Iraqi government, the official Iraqi daily Alsabah reported on Thursday. The Bismaya project had already seen the construction of approximately 30,000 out...