Middle East

The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck eastern Turkey has risen to 31, as rescue efforts continue two days after the natural disaster. A magnitude 6.8 quake hit the small lakeside town of Sivrice, in Turkey’s Elazig Province, on Friday evening. It also affected neighboring cities. The Turkish …

At least 22 people died and hundreds were injured in eastern Turkey after an earthquake rattled the region on Friday evening, according to authorities. The 6.7-magnitude quake struck near the town of Sivrice, in eastern Elazig province, collapsing at least 10 buildings, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said. Eighteen people …

A Lebanese military sentenced has sentenced a Syrian refugee to three years of hard labor on charges of belonging to the Islamic State (ISIS) and planning to commit crimes against the Lebanese people and undermining the authority of the state, activists said Saturday. The court also sentenced, in absentia, four …

A powerful earthquake measuring 6.8 hit eastern Turkey on Friday, leaving at least four people dead and causing buildings to collapse. The quake shook the Sivrice district in the eastern province of Elazig at around 8.55 pm (1755 GMT), the government’s disaster and emergency management agency said. The US Geological …

Dutch flag carrier the KLM has announced it is resuming flights through the Iranian and Iraqi airspace following an interim halt that was caused by soaring military tensions in the Middle East region. A KLM statement issued and published on Thursday said that the company had reached the security assessment …

Up to 40 Syrian soldiers have been killed and 80 others wounded in a multi-pronged attack by militants in the northwestern province of Idlib. Syria’s official news agency SANA cited a military source as saying that militants launched “fierce attacks with large numbers” on the country’s army positions in the …

The French tricolor has flown over the Church of St. Anne in Jerusalem’s walled Old City since it was gifted by the Ottomans to French Emperor Napoleon III in 1856. France views it as a provocation when Israeli police enter the church’s sandstone complex, in a part of Jerusalem al-Quds …

Clashes erupted as Lebanon’s new government convened a day after it was formed following a three-month political vacuum. Police are using water cannon to contain protesters throwing rocks during anti-government demonstrations in Beirut. The clashes erupted on Wednesday as Lebanon’s new government convened a day after it was formed following …

Around 108,000 flood-stricken people have been provided with relief during outreach operations in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, where unprecedented torrential downpours have left a trail of destruction. Rasoul Rashki, CEO of the province’s Red Crescent Society, announced the figure to IRNA on Tuesday, saying the society began the …

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri says he does not intend to return to the premiership and head a new government, stating that he has moved on from the post and that he is not obstructing the formation of a new cabinet amid a deep financial crisis. “Analyses that say …

Egypt’s state of emergency is set to reach the three-year mark by April after the government announced it would extend it by another three months from Monday next week. The North African country has been under a state of emergency since April 2017 bombings of two Coptic churches by a …

Iran is sending to Ukraine the black boxes of the Ukrainian passenger plane that its military accidentally shot down this month, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday. The Iranian authorities are also prepared for experts from France, Canada, and the United States to examine the data from the boxes, the …

Riot police fired tear gas and sprayed water cannon near parliament in Lebanon’s capital Saturday to disperse thousands of protesters after riots broke out during a march against the ruling elite amid a severe economic crisis. The riots began when some protesters started throwing stones at police deployed near the …

Saudi Arabia has reportedly paid $500 million to begin to cover the cost of the US military operating in the Arab country, a US official says. The payment was made in December 2019, according to the CNN report. “Consistent with the President’s guidance to increase partner burden-sharing, the Department of …

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the assassination of a top Iranian commander disgraced the US as it had to own up to the “terrorist” action and see its image dealt a blow by Iran’s retaliation. “The day the missiles of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps …

Turkey summoned Egypt’s charge d’affaires on Wednesday over a raid on the office of the Turkish state news agency Anadolu in Cairo, where four staff members were arrested. The news agency said police stormed its office on Tuesday evening and searched for it until the early morning hours. According to …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday warned all foreign countries to withdraw their troops from the Middle East or they will be put in danger. “Today, the American soldier is in danger, tomorrow the European soldier could be in danger,” Hassan Rouhani said without elaborating. Rouhani’s remarks come for the …

Britain, France, and Germany, collectively known as the EU3, have formally triggered a dispute settlement mechanism featured in a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, a step that could lead to the restoration of UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic. On Tuesday, the three European signatories to the Iran deal released …

Iran’s Judiciary says a number of arrests have been made in connection with the recent downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran, which killed all 176 on board. Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, the Judiciary’s spokesman, said on Tuesday that special commissions had been set up by the General Staff of the …

Heavy downpours have triggered severe flooding across several cities and villages in southeastern Iran. So far one person has been confirmed dead and another has been reported missing. Over the past two days, severe rainfall and flooding have blocked roads, destroyed houses and displaced hundreds of people in the southeastern …