Topic: Qassem Soleimani

Ten rockets were fired Wednesday at a military base in Iraq that hosts U.S. forces, the Defense Department said, ahead of a visit this week from Pope Francis.

A U.N. expert accused Iran in a condemning letter of committing numerous human rights violations before, during and after its military shot down a Ukrainian airliner early last, killing 176 on board.

The International Atomic Energy Agency announced it has reached a temporary deal with Iran for its inspectors to maintain access to monitor nuclear activity in the country.

Iran said Tuesday that the United States under President Joe Biden will only have a limited window of opportunity to rejoin the landmark 2015 nuclear deal -- which is something Biden has said he plans to do.

A judge in Iraq has issued an arrest warrant for President Donald Trump for the death of an Iraqi paramilitary commander who was killed last year in a U.S. drone strike assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The Trump administration on Tuesday slapped new sanctions on Iran's steel and metals industry, further ratcheting up tensions between the two nations.

In an interview on Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath TV on Christmas Eve, Zafer al-Aani, a senior member of the Iraqi Parliament, blamed the recent rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad squarely on Iran.

The Defense Department said late Sunday that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group are to remain in the Middle East to counter Iranian threats days after it was ordered to return home.

On Jan. 3, 1961, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro announced he was a communist.

The submarine USS Georgia, in the Arabian Gulf as tensions in the area increase, visited Manama, Bahrain, the Navy's 5th Fleet said on Monday.