U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened Iran on Friday, telling CNN that Washington will take direct action against Tehran if U.S. interests came under attack in the Middle East.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei has ordered the intelligence sectors to swiftly conduct an investigation into the terrorist attack in the southwestern city of Ahvaz which killed at least 25 people and injured 57 others.

Iran has dismissed the recent claims made by US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert about the Islamic Republic being responsible for any attack on the diplomatic sites of the United States in Iraq, saying such accusations are aimed at waging psychological warfare.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the United States' control over the eastern bank of the Euphrates River poses the biggest threat to Syria's territorial integrity.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned attempts by the regime in Riyadh and its ally the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to stop an investigation into crimes committed in Yemen.

Israeli forces have killed a young Palestinian man taking part in anti-occupation protests at the fence separating the besieged Gaza Strip from the occupied territories.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the Tel Aviv regime is to blame for the tragic deaths of over a dozen Russian servicemen aboard an Il-20 surveillance aircraft, which was accidentally shot down by Syrian air defenses while they were responding to a wave of Israeli air raids.

Israeli authorities have released prominent Palestinian poet Darin Tatour, after she completed two months out of her original five-month jail term given to her for “inciting terrorism” on social networking platforms.

Moscow’s embassy in Tel Aviv lashes out at Israel for its “irresponsible and unfriendly actions,” which led to the deaths of 15 Russian servicemen aboard an ill-fate aircraft in Syria, as Israel’s air force commander visits Russia to give explanations on the tragic incident.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Israeli military’s aerial operations in the Syrian airspace are in flagrant violation of the incumbent Damascus government’s sovereignty as tensions are simmering between Moscow and Tel Aviv over the downing of the Russian Ilyushin Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft in the western Syrian province of Latakia.