Tehran warned Wednesday that the US seizure of websites run by Iran-linked media was "not constructive" for ongoing talks on bringing Washington back into a landmark nuclear deal.

Four members of the Saudi hit squad that killed US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 had received paramilitary training in the United States that had been approved by the State Department, the New York Times reported late Tuesday. 

The US and Russian foreign ministers are meeting in Iceland on Wednesday to gauge the enormous gulf between the rival powers and confirm a summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.

A flurry of diplomatic contacts and reports of major progress suggest that indirect talks between the U.S. and Iran may be nearing an agreement. That's despite efforts by U.S. officials to play down chances of an imminent deal that would bring Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.

With the negotiations in Vienna on hiatus, the U.S. and Britain denied Iranian reports that any agreement was at hand with Iran for a swap of American and British prisoners. Such an exchange could be a confidence-building measure to revive the nuclear deal.

The US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, following the 9/11 terror attacks, targeted Al-Qaeda in the sanctuaries provided by the then Taliban government.

As the US formally begins withdrawing its troops from the country Saturday, bringing its longest war nearer to an end, a timeline of the last two decades:

American and Iranian warships had a tense encounter in the Persian Gulf earlier this month, the first such incident in about a year amid wider turmoil in the region over Tehran's tattered nuclear deal, the U.S. Navy said Tuesday.

Footage released by the Navy showed a ship commanded by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard cut in front of the USCGC Monomoy, causing the Coast Guard vessel to come to an abrupt stop with its engine smoking on April 2.

The Pentagon has deployed B-52 bombers to the Middle East and has prolonged the presence of an aircraft carrier in the region to support the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, spokesman John Kirby said Friday.

Russia on Friday banned top officials from US President Joe Biden's administration from entering the country and announced a wave of tit-for-tat sanctions and expulsions of diplomats, as tensions soar between the rivals. 

The all-powerful Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) opened a historic congress Friday to rubber-stamp the transfer of power to a new generation as outgoing leader Raul Castro committed it to "respectful" talks with the United States.

Visiting U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, David Hale, met President Michel Aoun in Baabda on Thursday after which he told reporters that Hizbullah’s Iran-financed illegal activities prevent the establishment of a peaceful state in Lebanon, and urged for a quick formation of a government.

The U.S. embassy in Beirut released Hale’s statement from Baabda: