Middle East

Fire at Hotel near U.S. Embassy in Baghdad After Drone Attack
Fire at Hotel near U.S. Embassy in Baghdad After Drone Attack

A fire broke out late Monday on the roof of a hotel in Baghdad's Green Zone, witnesses told AFP, with the interior ministry saying there were no casualties or damage after a "projectile" landed on the building. Two Iraqi security sources said a drone attack had targeted the U.S. embassy, located in the same area as the al-Rasheed ...

War in the Middle East: Casualty Figures from Across the Region
War in the Middle East: Casualty Figures from Across the Region

Since the United States and Israel unleashed strikes on Iran on February 28, war has spread across the Middle East, with casualties reported in countries across the region. AFP has not been able to independently verify all of the following tolls. The figures are based on numbers released by governments, militaries, health authorities and rescue ...

One Man Wounded in Northern Israel Following Hezbollah Rocket Launch
One Man Wounded in Northern Israel Following Hezbollah Rocket Launch

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it launched an attack on Monday targeting the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, where first responders reported a man was wounded. The Iran-backed militant group said in a statement that its fighters targeted Nahariya "with a barrage of rockets and a swarm of attack drones". Israel's Magen David Adom ...

Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah Says Security Spokesperson Killed
Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah Says Security Spokesperson Killed

Iraq's powerful Kataeb Hezbollah on Monday said its senior commander and security spokesperson Abu Ali al-Askari had been killed. The group's leader Ahmad al-Hamidawi, also known as Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, said on Monday in a statement "we announce the martyrdom of Haj Abu Ali al-Askari", without providing any details on how ...

European Countries Seek Non-Involvement in Hormuz Strait as U.S. Pushes International Participation
European Countries Seek Non-Involvement in Hormuz Strait as U.S. Pushes International Participation

The U.S. has encouraged its allies in Europe and the Gulf to increase their military participation in the Strait of Hormuz amid Iranian threats to close the waterway, prompting European countries to establish positions of non-involvement. On Monday, U.S. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called on the Gulf and Europe to do more to help ...

Iraq Hopes to Ship Oil to Turkey by Pipeline as War Cuts Off Exports
Iraq Hopes to Ship Oil to Turkey by Pipeline as War Cuts Off Exports

Iraq is hoping to ship up to 250,000 barrels of oil per day to a port in Turkey via a rehabilitated pipeline, its oil minister said, after the US-Israeli war on Iran cut off its main export route. The amount would be just a fraction of the roughly 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) that Iraq exported before the conflict, mostly through its ...

Hormuz Alternative Oil Routes Inadequate to Cope with Demand
Hormuz Alternative Oil Routes Inadequate to Cope with Demand

Iran's threats against oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz -- a chokepoint through which some 20 percent of global exports pass in peacetime -- has forced countries in the region to seek alternative routes. But analysts warn those routes are not yet sufficient to deal fully with global oil demand. "Saudi Arabia and the UAE can reroute ...

Lebanon Launches Legal Action Against 4 Hezbollah Members Over Arms
Lebanon Launches Legal Action Against 4 Hezbollah Members Over Arms

A Lebanese judge has begun legal proceedings against four Hezbollah members for weapons offences, a judicial official told AFP on Monday, after authorities recently banned the Iran-backed group's military and security activities. Lebanese authorities have been seeking to pressure Hezbollah after Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on ...

Trump Pressures NATO, China over Iran's Closure of Hormuz
Trump Pressures NATO, China over Iran's Closure of Hormuz

President Donald Trump urged NATO partners and China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical conduit for crude that Iran has effectively closed, as major economic players began releasing oil reserves on Monday to ward off supply disruptions. Global oil prices have surged by 40 to 50 percent after Iran choked off the waterway and ...

U.S. Intelligence Says Iran’s Late Leader Had Doubts About Son’s Succession
U.S. Intelligence Says Iran’s Late Leader Had Doubts About Son’s Succession

U.S. intelligence assessments presented to President Donald Trump suggest that Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had reservations about his son Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding him as the country’s top authority, according to sources familiar with the briefings. Officials told CBS News that intelligence agencies recently briefed Trump and a ...

U.S. Energy Secretary Says Iran Conflict Could End Within Weeks
U.S. Energy Secretary Says Iran Conflict Could End Within Weeks

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the war with Iran could end within the coming weeks, offering a cautious timeline for a conflict that has shaken global energy markets and pushed fuel prices sharply higher in the United States. Speaking in an interview with ABC News, Wright said he believed the conflict would likely conclude in the near ...