Baghdad

Baghdad-mediated diplomatic talks between regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia have come to a halt, largely because of Tehran claims the Sunni kingdom has played a role in alleged foreign incitement of the mass anti-government protests underway in Iran, multiple Iraqi officials said. The talks had been lauded as a breakthrough that would ease regional tensions. Iraq's new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said last month after taking office that Iraq had been asked to continue facilitating the dialogue. However, an anticipated sixth round of talks, to be hosted by Baghdad, has not been scheduled because Tehran refuses to meet with Saudi officials as protests in Iran enter a fourth month, according to the Iraqi officials. The Iranian-Saudi negotiations have stalled, and this will have a negative impact on the region, said Amer al-Fayez, an Iraqi lawmaker and member of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee. On his first official visit to Tehran in November, al-Sudani ..

More than two dozen people were injured, including the head of Iraq's civil defence directorate, when a commercial building in the capital caught fire and then collapsed Sunday, authorities and the state news agency reported. The official Iraqi News Agency said the civil defence director, Maj. Gen. Kadhim Bohan, and some firefighters were were among those injured when the burning building collapsed. No deaths were reported. No information was immediately available on the cause of the blaze. Brig. Gen. Qusai Younis, director of civil defense for the Al-Rusafa district of Baghdad, told The Associated Press that at least 28 people had been injured. He said two of the three stories in the building, which contained warehouses storing flammable materials such as perfume, collapsed due to the fire. The civil defense announced late Sunday evening that the fire had been fully extinguished and first responders were searching for missing people at the scene. On Oct. 29, a gas tanker explode

A soldier and two Islamic State (IS) militants were killed in clashes north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Iraqi military said

Iraqi forces killed six Islamic State (IS) militants in separate military operations in the north and west of the country, the military said

The majority of the protesters were followers of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr

The area is home to diplomatic missions and the seat of Iraq's government

Kurdistan's Counter-Terrorism Service said at least two drones carrying explosives targeted the airport. It said the attack did not lead to any casualties

A statement by his office said that al-Kadhimi's comments came during the extraordinary session of the Ministerial Council for National Security a day after the deadly twin suicide bombings

The blasts killed over 30 and wounded dozens

Once inside, however, thick white plumes of fragrant smoke choked the air as over a dozen young men whiled away the hours in defiance of the directives.

The US has blamed Iran-backed paramilitary groups for a spate of similar attacks in recent months on the Green Zone, but there has never been a claim of responsibility.

Friday's attack on Baghdad airport, authorised by US President Donald Trump, was a major escalation in a "shadow war" in the Middle East between Iran and the US and its allies

Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed late on Thursday

President Trump, in his brief interaction with reporters, said that the situation in Iran has been handled very well.

Trump blamed Tehran for the embassy attack and warned that it would face punishment if Americans are killed

The protests in Iraq threaten to plunge the country into a new cycle of instability

Authorities did not say why the curfew was lifted

IS claimed the attack in a statement circulated on a militant website often used by the extremists

Iraqi forces are fighting to retake Mosul from IS, the jihadist group's last major urban stronghold in the country

Attack struck the Baghdad Jadida area near a refreshments tent for Shiites taking part in annual commemorations of the death of Imam Hussein, a revered figure in Shiite Islam