Mena Today

U.S. forces have pulled out of two more bases in northeastern Syria, visiting Reuters reporters found, accelerating a troop drawdown that the commander of U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces said was allowing a resurgence of Islamic State.

U.S. President Donald Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early due to the situation in the Middle East, the White House said on Monday.

Israel and Iran attacked each other for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, and U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranians to evacuate Tehran, citing what he said was the country's rejection of a deal to curb nuclear weapons development.

Iran's strikes on Israel are self-defense and are "proportionate defensive operations directed exclusively at military objectives and associated infrastructure," Iran's U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the U.N. Nations Security Council on Monday.

King Abdullah II of Jordan has departed on a working visit to Strasbourg, France, where he is scheduled to address the European Parliament on Tuesday.

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) submitted a draft bill to parliament on Monday that proposes significant changes to the country’s tax framework, particularly targeting special consumption tax (SCT) regulations for motor vehicles. 

Cyprus has received requests to assist in the evacuation of citizens of Portugal and Slovakia from the Middle East, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said on Monday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israel's "act of force" against Iran and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities when they spoke by phone on Monday, the Kremlin said.

Thousands of residents of the Iranian capital Tehran are fleeing their homes and stockpiling essential supplies for fear that Israel's airstrike campaign against longtime foe Iran will escalate in the coming days.

France has shut down the four main Israeli company stands at the Paris Airshow for apparently displaying offensive weapons, in a move condemned by Israel that highlights the growing tensions between the traditional allies.

The head of intelligence for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Kazemi, was killed on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

Iran has told mediators Qatar and Oman that it is not open to negotiating a ceasefire while it is under Israeli attack, an official briefed on the communications told Reuters on Sunday, as the two foes launched fresh attacks and raised fears of a wider conflict.