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Middle East

  • This aerial photo taken from a helicopter shows al-Asad Air Base in the western Anbar desert of Iraq on December 29, 2019.
    Nasser Nasser/AP/File
    Iraq announces full withdrawal of US forces from its federal territory
  • Syrian government forces launch a rocket towards Kurdish forces near Dibsi Faraj in the northern Syrian Tabqa area, Raqa province on January 17, 2026. Syria's army took control of swathes of northern Syria and threatened to bomb parts of Raqa province on January 17, after Kurdish forces pulled back from territory they had held for over a decade. The government appeared to be seeking to extend its grip on parts of the country under Kurdish control a day after President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a "national language" and granting the minority official recognition.
    Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images
    Syria’s military has seized swaths of Kurdish-held territory. Here’s what we know.
  • Members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) participate in a military drill in an outpost near Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq on January 15, 2026. Amid the ongoing developments in Iran, several Kurdish opposition groups have become active along the border separating the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Iran. The KDPI, a leftist Kurdish group of Iran that has been running an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic's regime in Iran from exile for decades. (Photo by Osama Al Maqdoni / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)
    Osama Al Maqdoni/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
    After decades of fighting the Iranian regime, Kurds see victory edging closer
  • Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaks during a meeting in Tehran on Saturday.
    Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/Wana News Agency/Reuters
    Iran’s supreme leader acknowledges thousands were killed in protests
  • Iranian protester Erfan Soltani's feared execution was canceled earlier this week, his family said, with one family member saying the decision was influenced by US involvement.
    Whatsapp
    Detained Iranian protester in good physical health after execution fears, family and rights group say
  • In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, a 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron B-1B Lancer deployed to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing prepares to taxi on April 13, 2018, and launch a strike mission from Al Udeid AIr Base, Qatar, in support of the multinational response to Syria's recent use of chemical weapons. Two B-1Bs, deployed to Al Udeid AB from Ellsworth AFB, S.D., employed 19 Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), marking the first combat employment of the weapon.
    Master Stg. Phil Speck/AP
    The weapons the US could employ in any new strike on Iran
  • Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran on Friday.
    MAHSA/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
    Why are there mass protests in Iran, and could the US get involved?
  • Iranian protesters gather in the capital Tehran on January 9. The regime's subsequent crackdown may have produced one of the highest death tolls since Iran's 1979 revolution.
    MAHSA/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
    Iran makes high-tech additions to its age-old playbook for crushing protests
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  • Iranians gather while blocking a street during a protest in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2026. The nationwide protests started in Tehran's Grand Bazaar against the failing economic policies in late December, which spread to universities and other cities, and included economic slogans, to political and anti-government ones.
    MAHSA/Middle East Images/Getty Images
    Protesters in Tehran describe seeing ‘bodies piled up’ in hospitals after crackdown by authorities
  • Reza Pahlavi is photographed for Paris Match on May 07, 2024 in Paris, France.
    Alvaro Canovas/Paris Match/Getty Images/File
    The son of Iran’s last shah is rallying protesters. But do Iranians really want another king?
  • thumb_22262042_27382.7_thumb.jpg
    • Video 4:59
    Obtained from Social Media via Reuters
    Video The latest on the anti-regime protests intensifying in Iran 4:59
  • Mandatory Credit: Photo by STRINGER/EPA/Shutterstock (16215932b) Iranian shopkeepers and traders protest against the economic conditions, as tear gas is fired by anti-riot police in Tehran, Iran, 29 December 2025. Iran is experiencing an economic crisis as the value of its currency declines as a result of tensions between Iran, Israel, and the USA as well as sanctions implemented by the US and EU against Iran. Iranian shopkeepers protest over economic crisis in Tehran, Iran Islamic Republic Of - 29 Dec 2025
    EPA/Shutterstock
    Iran faces a pivotal moment. Can a tired regime contain a fresh wave of protests?
  • iran.jpg
    • Video 1:58
    IranWire
    Video Protesters march across Iran Thursday with large crowds in capital 1:58
  • TOPSHOT - This picture taken on January 8, 2026 shows columns of smoke rising from Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods amid intense clashes between government forces and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces. Syria's military warned civilians in two besieged Kurdish neighbourhoods in the city of Aleppo to leave on December 8, as it prepared to conduct a fresh wave of strikes targeting Kurdish positions. Thousands have already fled the area following clashes between the army and Kurdish-led forces that have killed more than a dozen people. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP via Getty Images)
    Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images
    Syrian army launches new strikes in Aleppo as fighting with Kurdish-led SDF intensifies
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  • Supporters of the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) wave flags of the United Arab Emirates and of the STC, during a rally in Aden, Yemen, December 30, 2025.
    Fawaz Salman/Reuters
    Saudi Arabia’s dispute with the UAE exposes a deeper regional power struggle
  • Former Israeli hostage recounts sexual abuse in Hamas captivity and fear of becoming a ‘sex slave’
  • Trump warns Iran after protests turn deadly across several provinces
  • Video Protesters take to the streets across Iran on Friday 0:56
  • Palestinians live in makeshift tents amid harsh conditions in Nuseirat, Gaza on December 28, 2025. Palestinians living in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the central Gaza Strip are struggling to carry on with their daily lives under harsh conditions amid the rubble left behind by Israeli attacks. Many displaced families, deprived of basic necessities, are trying to survive in makeshift tents and heavily damaged buildings amid cold weather conditions.
    Hassan Jedi/Anadolu/Getty Images
    Israel to suspend operations of several aid groups in Gaza as countries warn of renewed ‘catastrophic’ humanitarian crisis
  • Video Palestinians struggle to survive in devastated environment 1:59
  • Iran’s ailing supreme leader resorts to his only playbook as crises mount and protests erupt
  • UAE says it will withdraw its remaining forces in Yemen after Saudi Arabia struck port city
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