Shops selling alcoholic beverages in Baghdad are constantly targeted. Some Iraqis see this as part of the war on their personal freedoms.

Amid growing fears of a fresh Turkish offensive, the Syrian Kurds are under Russian pressure to cede full or partial control of the strategic town of Ain Issa to the Syrian government.

Turkey’s Central Bank Governor Naci Agbal said Wednesday he would seek to stem inflation, possibly through further rate hikes, pledging to continue tight monetary policies and stabilize the nation’s currency. Turkey’s new Central Bank Governor Naci Agbal pledged to maintain a tight monetary policy to stem the nation’s double-digit inflation …

Vows to destroy Israel, “liberate Al-Aqsa,” and spread anti-Zionist and antisemitic comments have become normal in Turkey. Turkey has in the last few weeks sought to use media connections abroad to push narratives about how it wants reconciliation with Israel, even as its own media pushes extremist anti-Israel comments. One …

Iran’s Tasnim news ran an article hinting at a renewed round of attacks on US forces in Iraq. Rocket attacks against facilities where US forces are located increased in 2019 and reached a crescendo over the summer. The US has pulled troops from half a dozen places and concentrated them …

“My firm recommendation is not to trust the enemy,” Khamenei said in remarks carried by state TV. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday used his first public appearance in weeks to suggest the United States would remain hostile towards the Islamic Republic even after President-elect Joe Biden takes …

Hook spoke less than a week after Israel announced a normalization deal with Morocco. This was its fourth such agreement under the US brokered Abraham Accords.

The Trump administration imposed sanctions Monday on NATO ally Turkey’s main military weapons procurement agency as punishment for its purchase of a Russian-made missile defense system.

Russia is “seeking” the United Arab Emirates and Egypt for successful talks on the Libyan crisis, Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov said on Monday during a press conference with his Emirati counterpart.

Egypt’s Mostaqbal Watn (Nation’s Future) Party, which strongly backs President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, secured nearly 55% of the contested seats in a parliamentary election spread over several weeks, official results showed on Monday.