Middle East

Reason for the move has yet to be made clear, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale says, citing apparent "dispute over the efficacy of the assistance."

The unprecedented leak of 700 pages of Iranian intelligence cables, according to The New York Times and The Intercept, shows Tehran’s efforts to embed itself in Iraq, including paying Iraqi agents working for the US to switch sides.

Mohammad Safadi, a former finance minister, pulls his candidacy, saying it was too hard to form a “harmonious” government with broad support. Safadi’s withdrawal leaves the powerful, Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies with even fewer options, as country's foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings plunge deeper into junk territory.

Demonstrations take place in over a dozen cities after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s decision early Friday to cut gasoline subsidies to fund handouts for Iran’s poor. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blames opponents of the Islamic republic and foreign enemies for "sabotage." In Sirjan, some 500 miles south of Tehran, protesters shout: “Rouhani, shame on you! Leave the country alone!”

The anti-government demonstrations that prompted Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri to resign could usher in a new leadership “more willing to relax its iron grip ... on social and human rights issues," says the head of Lebanon's most prominent LGBT+ rights organization.

Jordanian media says Amman's intelligence service has prevented several terrorist attacks targeting US and Israeli diplomats, US troops in the...

Drone shot down over southern port city of Mahshahr, Iranian media outlets not specifying whether the drone was military or civilian.

Temblor hit Eastern Azerbaijan Province, some 250 northwest of Tehran, early Friday morning, state TV reports. Dozens of aftershocks recorded.