Iraq

Sunni militants advanced through west Iraq after seizing a strategic Syria border crossing, as US Secretary of State John Kerry called Sunday for the country's leaders to rise above sectarianism.
      

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed strong opposition to intervention in Iraq by the United States

Iraqi forces have made a "tactical" withdrawal from three western towns, a security spokesman said on Sunday, as Sunni militants widened an offensive that has already overrun swathes of territory.
     
"The military units' withdrawal (from Al-Qaim, Rawa and Ana) was for the purpose of redeployment," Lieutenant General Qassem Atta said, referring to it as a "tactical" move.

Iraq has requested to fill its gasoline gap with fuel from Turkey after the shutdown of the country’s biggest oil refinery amid clashes with armed insurgents, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has said.

ISIL militants seize a border post on the Iraq-Syria frontier, security sources say, smashing a line drawn by colonial powers almost a century ago.

When Egyptians were flooding to Tahrir Square, I was fascinated with the Arab Spring. Like many others, I too wrote in praise of the movement at the time. Then an experienced Turkish diplomat warned me.

Turkey and the United States are in close coordination over developments in Iraq, as security conditions have worsened since last week after jihadists seized control of a number of key cities, Turkish diplomatic sources have said.

It has already become certain that ISIL’s (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) invasion of Mosul will pass into history as the “pre-Mosul and post-Mosul era.” The post-Mosul order turns the regional balance of power upside down. Hence, Turkey has to make a completely new reading of the region and adapt its policies accordingly.

Few people know how ancient the word paradise is, that it has been traced to the Achaemenid dynasty that ruled the Middle East from the 8th century to the 4th century BC over an area that stretched from the Balkans to the Indus River Valley.

Iraqi Kurdistan looked set to unload its first cargo of disputed crude oil in Israel from its new pipeline after weeks of seeking an outlet as Iraq’s central government has threatened legal action against any buyer.