Middle Orient

United States President Barack Obama is going to Congress on Tuesday with fresh hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough that would allow Syria’s government to avert U.S. missile strikes if it surrenders its chemical weapons arsenal.

Iran “favourably welcomes” a Russian plan to head off threatened US strikes on Syria by securing a deal to destroy the regime’s chemical weapons, the foreign ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday. Marzieh Afgham told a media conference in Tehran that the proposal should include the destruction of chemical

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday she hoped “action” would follow Russia’s proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control, and that it was not just a way to buy time.

The Syrian government has accepted a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control to avoid a possible US military strike. “We held a very fruitful round of talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday, and he proposed an initiative relating

Turkey’s prime minister is set to convene a security summit at his official residence in Ankara on Tuesday. Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay, Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Interior Minister Muammer Güler, Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan and …

The newly-appointed U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale said Tuesday that Beirut must remain neutral from the crisis in Syria. Hale’s remarks came during a meeting with caretaker Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi.

The Syrian government has accepted a Russian proposal to put its chemical weapons under international control to avoid a possible US military strike, Interfax news agency quoted Syria’s foreign minister as saying on Tuesday. “We held a very fruitful round of talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday, and he

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Turkey has not yet decided the type of support it would provide in a possible US-led military strike against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s administration, saying that Turkey will join in efforts that will target “peace” in the country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Monday on the Syrian regime to hand over control of its chemical weapons arsenal to international supervision as a way of staving off the threat of military action.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has told a US broadcaster there is “no evidence” that his government has used chemical weapons. US Secretary of State John Kerry has been lobbying hard for military action against Mr Assad during talks with EU and Arab foreign ministers in Europe.