Prime Minister Yair Lapid was surprised by the briefings to the press of Mossad Director David Barnea, who accused the West and the United States of generating a strategic catastrophe for the region. The intense efforts by world powers to reach agreement with Iran on its nuclear program are sending …

Following Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s order, his followers have withdrawn completely from the Green Zone and evacuated the parliament building. At a press conference at noon in Baghdad, the leader of the Sadrist movement, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, ordered his followers to withdraw from the Green Zone within 60 minutes. …

The situation in Baghdad has calmed somewhat after cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his supporters to pull back. Several regional countries have issued statements on the political violence in Iraq, expressing concern at the violence and urging calm. Last night supporters of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed the seat …