Middle Orient

Ending weeks of diplomatic deadlock, the United States and Russia reached an agreement on Thursday on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ridding Syria of its chemical weapons arsenal. Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said a deal was struck with Russia

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that if Iran takes rapid measures to cooperate with international monitoring of its nuclear program, Washington could begin lifting sanctions within months. Speaking to CBS News flagship 60 Minutes he said Iran should, for example, open up its Fordow underground

A team of UN experts investigating alleged chemical weapons attacks in Syria expects to complete its in-country work by Monday, the United Nations said on Friday. In a statement issued from Damascus, the UN said the team would investigate seven alleged attacks and “expects to finalise its activities in the …

Turkish President Abdullah Gül said he discussed the ongoing Syria conflict in depth with the United States President Barack Obama while having lunch in New York. Gül told reporters afterwards that Obama was at the same lunch table as he was, which gave the two the opportunity

Damascus Syria is committed to the convention against chemical weapons it signed under a US-Russian deal and sees “no obstacles” to its implementation, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview broadcast Thursday. Speaking to Venezuela’s Telesur, the Syrian leader insisted that his regime was complying with a deal under which …

US President Barack Obama said yesterday that the UN Security Council must agree to a resolution on Syrian chemical weapons that includes consequences for President Bashar Assad if he doesn’t meet demands to dismantle his stockpile.

Turkish President Abdullah Gül has had conversation with his U.S. counterpart Barrack Obama in private during a lunch hosted by the United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon on Sept.24 for the honorary of delegation

An Iraqi woman was killed on Thursday when a mortar round slammed into Iraq’s consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus. There was no immediate confirmation of the nationality of the three wounded in the attack that came at around noon in the northwest of the city. Syrian rebels battling against …

Turkish President Abudllah Gül met with Iran’s newly-elected President Hassan Rouhani in New York yesterday, discussing the regional topics and Syria. According to diplomatic sources, the importance of the two country’s roles in resolving regional issues was underlined during the meeting, saying cooperation

Top officials in Turkey, which is one of the countries most affected by the Syrian crisis, has been pushing hard for a tougher stance on the Syrian regime in talks in New York, where they are attending the UN General Assembly’s 68th meeting with a delegation of high-level diplomats.