In a sign that it will allow some flexibility in exchange rates under threatened U.S. sanctions, Iran has lowered the official value of the rial versus the dollar for the first time since it tried to stamp out a free currency market last month.

The United States has contacted members of a political bloc in Iraq led by a former foe, the Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, after his election win put him in a strong position to influence the formation of a new government, a top Sadr aide said.

The United Arab Emirates did not try to influence the election of Donald Trump, a minister said on Tuesday, following reports that the president’s son met with an envoy representing the crown princes of the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Iran’s top leader set out a series of conditions on Wednesday for European powers if they want Tehran to stay in a nuclear deal after the U.S. exit, including steps to safeguard trade with Tehran and guarantee Iranian oil sales.

The United States on Monday demanded Iran make sweeping changes — from dropping its nuclear program to pulling out of the Syrian civil war — or face severe economic sanctions as the Trump administration hardened its approach to Tehran.

The EU's foreign policy chief warned Monday there was "no alternative" to the Iran nuclear deal, after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed unprecedented sanctions against Tehran following Washington's withdrawal from the pact.

Kuwait Energy, an independent oil and gas company, has hired investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP) to advise it on options that could include selling all or part of its Block 9 asset in southern Iraq and a spin-off of Egyptian assets, sources familiar with the matter said.

The United Arab Emirates has announced plans to allow 100 percent ownership and visa incentives to foreigners, in a bid to attract investors to boost its slowing national economy.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday that European efforts to save the nuclear deal after the exit of the United States were not sufficient.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday in Sofia that France's priority was to stabilize the Middle East rather than seek "trade interests" when it sought to maintain Iran's nuclear deal.

International rights groups have condemned the arrests this week of at least seven prominent Saudi Arabian women’s rights activists who previously campaigned for the right to drive.

EU Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete arrived in Tehran on Saturday to present plans for continuing oil and gas purchases and protect European companies despite renewed US sanctions on Iran.

After leaving the Iran nuclear deal, Washington wants to move forward by offering to build a "coalition" to counter the multiple "threats" posed by the Tehran regime -- but Europeans intent on saving the 2015 accord may thwart that effort.

The final results of Iraq's elections confirmed Saturday a breakthrough for nationalist cleric Moqtada Sadr, who was in the lead, ahead of internationally favoured prime minister Haider al-Abadi.

A political bloc led by populist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a long-time adversary of the United States who also opposes Iranian influence in Iraq, has won the country’s parliamentary election, the electoral commission said on Saturday.

The Saudi State Security Apparatus said on Friday (May 18, 2018) that it arrested 7 seven suspects accused of making contacts with foreign circles.

Qatar's ruler on Thursday personally thanked Iran's President Hassan Rouhani for his country's support during an almost year-long Gulf crisis, which has seen the emirate cut adrift by neighboring former allies.

The European Union took steps Friday to avoid re-imposed US sanctions on Iran and save the international nuclear deal as a rift with Washington widened.

Saudi Arabia has arrested at least five people, mostly women who previously agitated for the right to drive and an end to the kingdom’s male guardianship system, rights activists said on Friday.

The company owned by the family of President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is close to receiving a bailout of its flagship New York building from a company with ties to Qatar, The New York Times reported Thursday.