All Middle East
- Why Iran views Islamic State fight through a conspiracy lens
Iran’s top leadership blames the US, CIA, Israel, and America's Sunni allies such as Saudi Arabia for 'creating' the Islamic State as a tool to undermine Iran.
- Could Iraq's tribes provide the glue that keeps the country from falling apart?
Saddam Hussein tapped Iraq’s tribes, which cross geographic and ethnic lines, to bolster his regime. Now some tribesmen are offering to help fend off the self-declared Islamic State.
- Islamic State: Would three old MiGs an air force make?
Unconfirmed reports took flight Friday that former Iraqi air force pilots were training Islamic State fighters to fly captured Soviet-era jets at an air base in northwestern Syria.
- In Jordan, slashed UN food aid has even 'well off' Syrians feeling the pinch
With Jordan limiting job opportunities and the UN reducing food aid, even middle-class refugees from war-torn Syria are asking how, and where, they can survive.
- Iran nuclear talks: Parties officially upbeat, but is failure an easier sell?
Despite years of haggling and less than six weeks before a Nov. 24 deadline to strike a deal, negotiators' positions at the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna this week are still far apart.
- Flight from Islamic State overwhelms UN refugee agency. Is Europe's door open?
An exodus of refugees from Iraq, Syria and other conflicts has drained the resources of host countries in the Middle East. Many of the refugee households are headed by women.
- What has life been like for the Islamic State 'poster girls'?
A pair of teenage girls fled Austria to become 'jihadi brides' for the Islamic State. Officials now say the girls have contacted their families and want to come home.
- On Islamic State's western front, Lebanon girds for pre-winter attacks
Lebanon fears that Islamic State and other militant forces – pressed by Hezbollah and Syria into the mountains along Lebanon's border – are trying to break into populated areas.
- Rise of IS elicits soul searching in Arab Gulf, a source of funds and fighters
In op-eds and at dinner, Gulf Arabs are debating who is to blame for the Islamic State. Culprits include Syria and the US, but also local sheikhs who raised funds for the jihadists.
- Battle for Kobane: Turkey pressed to let weapons through to Kurdish fighters
With US-led airstrikes having a limited impact on the Islamic State siege of Kobane, Turkey is being urged to open its borders to let weapons through to the increasingly overwhelmed Kurdish fighters.
- Egypt's universities, centers of dissent, reopen under strict new controls
In antigovernment demonstrations last year at Egypt's universities, more than 800 students were arrested and 16 were killed. In response, Egypt has clamped down on security and tightened control over faculties.
- Yemen suicide bombings a reminder: Sunni-Shiite tensions matter there, too
Nearly 70 people were reportedly killed Thursday in a pair of suicide attacks in Yemen that bear the hallmarks of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
- Kobane backlash: Rage among Turkey's Kurds risks opening old wounds
Turkey’s deadliest riots in more than a decade – at least 19 dead, 89 wounded, and 345 detained in Kobane-related violence – have prompted fears of reinvigorated internal strife among the country’s Kurds.
- In Babylon, Iraqis shield ancient symbols of identity from Islamic State
Islamic State militants, still some 37 miles from Babylon, have already taken a toll on Iraqi cultural heritage sites. 'For those who want to take pride in Iraq, Babylon is the best we have,' says the site's archaeological director.
- Islamic State: Why Turkey is hesitating to prevent fall of Kobane
With the Islamic State assault on Kobane entering its endgame, Turkey is resisting mounting pressure from its own Kurdish minority to assist the town’s defenders.
- In jihadist-ruled Iraqi city, residents fear US airstrikes – and sectarian revenge
Mosul is the largest city in northern Iraq and its capture in June by Islamic State was a major blow to Baghdad. Some Sunni residents welcomed their new rulers, but tensions are rising over a future assault by US-backed troops.