Syrian President Bashar Assad says his government will allow international experts access to its chemical weapons sites but rebels might block them from reaching some of the locations.

Iran’s President Hasan Rouhani says his country will accept anyone as ruler of Syria who is elected by the Syrian people the official news agency reported Monday.

A powerful car bomb exploded Wednesday near Libya’s foreign ministry building in the heart of the eastern coastal city of Benghazi, security officials said, exactly one year after an attack there killed the US ambassador and three other Americans.

Iran’s new President Hassan Rowhani said Tuesday that Tehran will not give up “one iota” of its nuclear rights, echoing his hardline predecessor, after the UN nuclear watchdog urged improved cooperation.

Lebanese officials said Saturday the death toll from a devastating twin car bombing outside two mosques in the northern city of Tripoli on Friday has risen to 47.

A defiant Muslim Brotherhood Thursday vowed to bring down the military-backed government after Egypt witnessed its bloodiest day since the Arab Spring with at least 421 people killed in a crackdown by security forces on supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

Attacks in Iraq killed nine people including three police Tuesday, while militants bombed a major pipeline carrying oil to Turkey, halting exports, officials said.

Air strikes by the Syrian military killed at least 20 people in the northwestern province of Latakia overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said Saturday.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday warned the Palestinians against renewed peace talks with Israel, saying they would be “detrimental” to their cause.

Syrian authorities denied media reports of an attack on President Bashar al-Assad’s motorcade as he was on his way to a mosque Thursday to attend prayers marking the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.