Before the US assassinated its most senior general, Iran had contended with protests at home and resentment for its presence in Iraq. Not anymore, writes Abbas Milani.

The decision to toss our head of state into the boiling political pot of the Middle East might or might not have been a piece in its campaign to win a 12-month seat on the United Nations Security Council. Look, here’s our man at the UN shaking hands with Iran’s Hassan Rouhani, and there he is enjoying a bilateral chat with Lebanon’s president!

Irish personnel have taken shelter after 'munitions' fell into the Irish Area of Operations in Lebanon earlier today.

Promoting a new nuclear deal would not lead to normalisation of diplomatic ties with Iran, but it would dramatically reduce the chance of war, writes Richard N Haass.

Hezbollah has strongly rejected the UK government's move to ban it as a terrorist organisation, calling it an "insult" to the Lebanese people and evidence of subservience to the United States.

Last year, at age 31, Mohammed bin Salman became Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.

The Department of Defence has not replaced the only psychiatrist working in the Defence Forces Medical Corps since he left the job earlier this year, leaving a void in treatment for soldiers and sailors who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

America’s failure to commit resources has enabled a multiplicity of players — Iran, Russia, Islamic State, Hezbollah — to muddy the bloody waters of the civil war, says Christopher R. Hill

Israeli military intelligence officers recruited the services of Irish speakers so they could translate sensitive information transmitted between Irish soldiers working for the UN in Lebanon.

Despite their difference Iran and Russia are both becoming big players in the Middle

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has revoked his resignation following a consensus deal reached with rival political parties, marking an end to one of the most bizarre interludes in Lebanese politics.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has returned to Beirut more than two weeks after announcing that he had resigned from his post while in Saudi Arabia.

Lebanon's prime minister Saad Hariri has said he is returning to the country and confirmed he is resigning amid political tensions.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cautioned countries in the Middle East against using Lebanon as "a venue for proxy conflicts".

Saudi Arabia has ordered its citizens to leave Lebanon amid rising tensions between their two governments.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has announced he is resigning in a surprise move following a trip to Saudi Arabia.

The CIA's release of documents seized during the 2011 raid that killed al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has again raised questions about Iran's support of the extremist network leading up to the September 11 terror attacks.

The head of the UN has said he has confidence in the Irish general in charge of peacekeeping in Lebanon.

The head of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said on Sunday it was time for political leaders to accept the survival of Syrian president Bashar Assad's government.

All players in the Middle East must value diplomacy not conflict, writes Jeffrey D Sachs

An open-ended ceasefire in southern Syria brokered by the United States and Russia has come into effect.

The evacuation of more than 3,000 Syrians from four areas as part of a population transfer has been postponed a day after a deadly blast killed more than 120 people, many of them government supporters.

America’s limited intervention won’t change the course of the Syrian war or temper Bashar al-Assad’s scorched earth policy against rebels and civilians, writes Mohamad Bazzi.

Russia has been told it must choose between aligning itself with the US and like-minded countries or embracing Syrian President Bashar Assad, Iran and militant group Hezbollah.

The United States has warned it is "prepared to do more" to stop the horrors that are taking place in Syria under Bashar Assad.

Syria's military said it has fully recaptured the historic town of Palmyra from Islamic State for the second time in a year.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution supporting efforts by Russia and Turkey to end the nearly six-year conflict in Syria and jump-start peace negotiations.

A deal to evacuate trapped civilians and fighters in war-ravaged east Aleppo and two Syrian villages has been thrown into doubt after assailants torched six buses assigned to the operation.

An agreement has been reached to allow "humanitarian cases" to leave two besieged government-held Shiite villages in north-western Syria, a step which would allow the evacuations of civilians and rebels from eastern Aleppo to resume, Hezbollah's media arm and a monitoring group have said.

A ceasefire deal between rebels and the Syrian government in the city of Aleppo has broken down, threatening plans to evacuate the remaining fighters and tens of thousands of civilians.

Thousands of residents have been fleeing eastern Aleppo after simultaneous advances inside the divided city by Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces.

A ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia is set to begin in Syria at sunset today.

A gunman who pledged his allegiance to Islamic State before he massacred 49 people at a gay nightclub in the US had “strong indications of radicalisation”, the FBI said.

The terror group grew out of an al Qaeda offshoot, and could mutate further in response to material victories by the US-led coalition, warn Colin P Clarke and Chad C Serena