Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday he wanted more talks with Russia about what he called the "illegal" U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Friday for a nationwide disarmament campaign and announced his Baghdad stronghold would be first to disarm just two days after an ammunitions cache exploded there and killed 18 people.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit Russia next week, Interfax cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Friday.

Afghanistan has accepted an offer from the United Arab Emirates to boost its presence in training Afghan forces fighting Islamist insurgents, senior government officials said, as Kabul seeks to improve ties with majority-Muslim nations.

Iran said on Friday a U.S. request for Saudi Arabia to pump more oil so that it could cover a drop in Iranian exports was "crazy and astonishing" and said OPEC would not heed the appeal, setting the stage for a tough OPEC meeting this month.

The Specialized Criminal Court issued preliminary verdict sentencing 4 citizens to death over charge of establishing cell to collude with Iran, training theoretically and practically in the camps of Iran's Revolutionary Guard on the use of weapons and explosives and street fighting.

At least 18 people were killed and over 90 wounded in an explosion in Baghdad’s Sadr City district on Wednesday, an Iraqi police source said.

Iraq and Iran have not yet begun exchanging crude oil, for technical reasons, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said on Wednesday, contradicting Iran’s oil ministry news agency.

The United States is aware of reports that Iran plans to increase its uranium enrichment capacity and Washington will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday.

A U.N. peace plan for Yemen calls on the Houthi movement to give up its ballistic missiles in return for an end to a bombing campaign against it by a Saudi-led coalition and a transitional governance agreement, according to a draft of the document and sources.

Iraq launched an air strike on an Islamic State target inside neighboring Syria on Thursday, the military said.

U.S. officials are touring the globe to pressure countries to shun trade with Iran following Washington’s withdrawal from a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, a move that undermines European efforts to save the accord, sources said.

Saudi air defences on Tuesday intercepted a ballistic missile that targeted the western city of Yanbu after being fired from rebel-held territory in neighbouring Yemen, a Saudi-led military coalition said.

The UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said that victory over the Houthis in Yemen was “close”, as the Yemeni forces and the Arab coalition were closing in on the rebel-held port city of Al Hodeidah.

Qatar Airways could face a second straight year of losses in 2018 amid a regional dispute that has banned the airline from four Arab countries, the airline’s CEO said on Tuesday.

Iran will inform the U.N. nuclear watchdog in Vienna on Tuesday over its start of a process to increase the country’s uranium enrichment capacity, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told ISNA news agency.

Qatar accused its giant neighbor Saudi Arabia of reckless behavior after a newspaper report that Riyadh had threatened military action if Doha installed a Russian air defense system.

Iran has begun preparations to boost its uranium enrichment capacity, its nuclear chief said on Tuesday, adding to pressure on European powers trying to save a nuclear accord with Tehran in peril after a U.S. withdrawal.

Unidentified forces attacked a U.N. aid vessel off the main Yemeni port of Hodeidah at the weekend and started a fire in the engine room, port authorities said on Monday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped 32.00 million barrels per day in May, the survey found, down 70,000 bpd from April’s revised figure. The May total is the lowest since April 2017, according to Reuters surveys.