Iran Iraq

Iraq has condemned Israel's use of its airspace to attack neighbouring Iran in a protest letter sent to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council, Baghdad said Monday.

An Israeli attack on Iran targeted military sites today, killing two soldiers, almost a month after Israel vowed to avenge a missile barrage that raised fears of a full-scale Middle East war. The airstrikes hit Iran's missile manufacturing units.

Iran held a series of diplomatic talks on Sunday, with President Masoud Pezeshkian seeking support from France's Emmanuel Macron for a ceasefire in Lebanon, and the foreign minister visiting Iraq while on a regional tour.

Air France said on Wednesday it had opened an internal investigation after one of its planes flew over Iraq on October 1 during an Iranian missile attack on Israel.

As things stand, unless sanity prevails on all sides, we are heading irreversibly into an abyss of disaster being facilitated, primarily, by the absence of any effective multilateral deterrence.

U.S. bases in Iraq and the region will be targets if the United States joins any response to Iranian strikes on Israel or if Israel uses Iraqi airspace against Tehran, Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups said on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, holding two maps.

The Middle East has been in turmoil since Iran-backed group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 sparking war in Gaza and drawing in Iranian allies around the region.

Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, began a visit to Iraq on Wednesday, aiming to deepen already close ties with the neighbouring country on his first trip abroad since taking office.

Iraqi security forces said an explosion was heard at a US-led coalition's military base at the Baghdad International Airport late Tuesday, a day before Iran's president was due to visit.

At least 28 Pakistani pilgrims travelling to Iraq for a Shiite Muslim ritual were killed as their bus crashed in central Iran, state media reported early Wednesday.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was due to travel to Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US "bridging proposal" for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same.

An airstrike on a vehicle in eastern Syria near the porous border with Iraq killed at least five fighters from pro-Iran units, two security sources in the region told Reuters.

American forces carried out a "defensive" air strike on combatants who were attempting to launch drones that were deemed a threat to US and allied troops, a US official said.

A military base in central Iraq, which was housing army troops and pro-Iranian paramilitaries, was hit with "bombing" overnight amid spiralling tensions between Israel and Iran, reports suggest. The US military has denied any role in the attack.

Iraq has condemned Israel's use of its airspace to attack neighbouring Iran in a protest letter sent to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council, Baghdad said Monday.

An Israeli attack on Iran targeted military sites today, killing two soldiers, almost a month after Israel vowed to avenge a missile barrage that raised fears of a full-scale Middle East war. The airstrikes hit Iran's missile manufacturing units.

Iran held a series of diplomatic talks on Sunday, with President Masoud Pezeshkian seeking support from France's Emmanuel Macron for a ceasefire in Lebanon, and the foreign minister visiting Iraq while on a regional tour.

Air France said on Wednesday it had opened an internal investigation after one of its planes flew over Iraq on October 1 during an Iranian missile attack on Israel.

As things stand, unless sanity prevails on all sides, we are heading irreversibly into an abyss of disaster being facilitated, primarily, by the absence of any effective multilateral deterrence.

U.S. bases in Iraq and the region will be targets if the United States joins any response to Iranian strikes on Israel or if Israel uses Iraqi airspace against Tehran, Iranian-backed Iraqi armed groups said on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, holding two maps.

The Middle East has been in turmoil since Iran-backed group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 sparking war in Gaza and drawing in Iranian allies around the region.

Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, began a visit to Iraq on Wednesday, aiming to deepen already close ties with the neighbouring country on his first trip abroad since taking office.

Iraqi security forces said an explosion was heard at a US-led coalition's military base at the Baghdad International Airport late Tuesday, a day before Iran's president was due to visit.

At least 28 Pakistani pilgrims travelling to Iraq for a Shiite Muslim ritual were killed as their bus crashed in central Iran, state media reported early Wednesday.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was due to travel to Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US "bridging proposal" for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same.

An airstrike on a vehicle in eastern Syria near the porous border with Iraq killed at least five fighters from pro-Iran units, two security sources in the region told Reuters.

American forces carried out a "defensive" air strike on combatants who were attempting to launch drones that were deemed a threat to US and allied troops, a US official said.

A military base in central Iraq, which was housing army troops and pro-Iranian paramilitaries, was hit with "bombing" overnight amid spiralling tensions between Israel and Iran, reports suggest. The US military has denied any role in the attack.