Beijing has pledged to invest $400 billion in Iran over 25 years in a deal that could see China’s economic, political, and military influence there and across the Middle East expand. China and Iran signed the expansive deal during a ceremony in Tehran on March 27 between their respective foreign …

Now is not the moment to reduce humanitarian aid to Syria, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told the Security Council on Monday, stressing that after 10 years of conflict, more support was needed to avoid further “dramatic and widespread” deterioration. Mark Lowcock, who’s also the Humanitarian Affairs chief, said that …

A regional ministerial conference called the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) started Monday in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe to try to advance the goal of ending the decades long conflict in Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who arrived early Monday to attend the annual conference, also met his Tajik counterpart Emomali …