Iraq

Iranian missile hits in central Israel • US denies targeting school in Iran • Iranian Quds Force Lebanon Corps commander Daoud Ali Zadeh was killed in Tehran.

Mora Namdar, the State Department's assistant secretary for consular affairs, said US citizens should leave using available commercial transportation "due to safety risks."

Gulf states have been suffering the consequences of the US-Israel war against Iran, after missiles have fallen on foreign territories.

Iranian-backed militias have launched a series of drone attacks targeting US bases in Iraq, raising the question: has Iraq become the next frontline in the widening Iran war?

The absence of leadership is leading to questions about who might be the real decision maker in Tehran now. One name being mentioned is Ali Larijani. Who is Larijani, and why does he matter?

Iran's attack might have the opposite effect, bringing Gulf countries closer together and enabling cooperation with the US and among themselves.

MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS: Kurdish groups in Iran and Iraq have faced incredible hardships. They have persevered. Now they sense that their moment has arrived.

A senior Syrian security source familiar with intelligence reports said: “There are indications that some ISIS detainees managed to escape from certain prisons during the past months.”

In the past, some Kurds were able to seek refuge in Iran during Saddam Hussein’s genocidal poison gas attacks. However, the Iranian regime has been persecuting Kurds over recent decades.

Iraqi Shiite militias linked with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including Kataib Hezbollah and other Popular Mobilization Forces groups, were targeted in Israeli strikes, local media claims.