Damascus International Airport

Israel launched airstrikes early Saturday targeting what it described as military targets in Iran in retaliation for a ballistic missile assault Oct. 1, officials said.

Two people were killed and three others wounded today in Israeli shelling of a vehicle in the Mazeh neighborhood of Damascus, where the UN headquarters as well as embassies are located, the Syrian Defense Ministry said today.

Iran threatens to launch a “major attack against Israel” following the strike on its consulate in Damascus, says Biden – Flights suspended due to tension in the region

Israeli air strikes hit southern Syria, the Syrian defence ministry said, with state media reporting attacks near the capital Damascus.

"At approximately 23:05 (20:05 GMT) today, the Israeli enemy carried out air strikes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting some points in the southern region," the defence ministry said in a statement, reporting no casualties.

Flights between Baghdad and Damascus will resume on May 18 after an eight-year hiatus, Iraqi Airways said on May 16.

As traditional centers of modern Arab art in Damascus and Baghdad have imploded amid disastrous wars, the sheeny city-state of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has stepped into the vacuum as a major hub for art sales.

Everything would have come up roses between Ankara and Tehran. Certain things did come up roses. Trade, of both the conventional and shady varieties, actually did prosper. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while he was still the prime minister, said he felt that Tehran was his second home.