Iraq

Hardline cleric who led Islamic Republic since 1989 projected power across the region and suppressed protests at home

Blair emerges from this impressively wide-ranging documentary brimming with charm yet blank behind the eyes

Al Hol camp held tens of thousands of people accused of having Isis links

Hasan Hadi’s film The President’s Cake centres on a deceptively simple premise: every year, schoolchildren were selected to make offerings for Saddam’s birthday, an impossible burden

Analysts warn Maliki nomination and US threats could destabilise Iraq amid regional tensions

Born in Iraq, he left Baghdad during Saddam Hussein’s regime after being asked to submit a false valuation for work

‘Every ten years, the US needs to pick some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall.’ This is at least part of the reason for the Venezuela operation

Western countries accused of washing their hands of their own citizens held in Syria

This is a traditional meal shared every Friday by the people of Mosul

The architect-in-chief of America’s ‘war on terror’ was later vilified for relentlessly hawkish foreign policy

Survivors climbed from the roof of the Corniche Hypermarket in al-Kut city with the help of rescue teams

PKK decided to end its separatist struggle after public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader

Turkey, US and EU may lift designation as a terrorist group following destruction of arms

Every 20 years the US and Israel attempt to remake the Middle East - always with catastrophic consequences

The likelihood is that much of Iran’s nuclear capabilities remain intact, and despite calls for regime change there is no sign of Iranians rising up

Self-preservation and national interest mean regional allies can do little more than express support

US pulls embassy staff from Middle East as threats emerge over potential Israel attack on Iran

Engineer, who lived in Co Roscommon, was released on bail having spent four years in an Iraqi jail after a contract dispute

Australian citizen who had been living in Ireland was imprisoned over contract dispute with employer

The scope is perhaps too broad, and the prose a little dry, for this book to appeal to the general reader

Late pontiff visited nine countries in the region and north Africa, cultivating ties between Christians and Muslims

Most sensible people might be anti-war, but just as many are in favour of certain wars. And pacifism just doesn’t make for good cinema

Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza bring us within the US combatants’ claustrophobic bubble during the Iraq War

Ministers and enforcement staff from 40 countries to meet over two days

Is the man once known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani intent on moderating or a brutal strongman?

This smart, punchy book is destined to spark conversation, says Naoise Dolan. It deserves to be a massive hit

Trump spending freeze threatens security arrangements and could make it harder to stop resurgence of Islamic State

The essential question for Ireland is: to grovel or not to grovel?

Francis made the revelation in his upcoming autobiography, Spera (Hope), due to be published in January

HTS founder Abu Muhammad al-Jolani participated in Iraqi insurgency against US as member of group that later became Islamic State

State news agency denies rumours that Bashar al-Assad has left country as his 24-year rule comes under major pressure

Iraqi critic says decision by pro-Iranian Shias marks attempt to ‘transform Baghdad into Kandahar’

The performer and award-winning author discusses why and how he made his first film, Layla, a buoyant new drama concerning a British-Palestinian drag queen

Iraq and Afghanistan veteran gained notoriety by blaming ‘wokeness’ for US military failures. Now he is set to be in charge

US says Tehran is preparing to launch ballistic strikes at Israel, in what would amount to reversal of Iran’s longstanding policy

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urges Muslims to stand with Hizbullah in ‘confronting’ Israel

This is a work for those who want to understand the plumbing of government, not the grandeur and glamour of governing

Firing Iranian ballistic missiles at Israel risks massive Israeli-US retaliation against Iran’s infrastructure

At least seven people killed in Israeli strike on school compound in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp

Shireen Khero, a Yazidi from Iraq, was abducted by Isis in 2014 but luckily escaped three years later. She is in Ireland to mark the 10th anniversary of Isis atrocities against the Yazidi community