Sources: Al Jazeera
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, and Syria close their respective airspaces to civilian flights as a precautionary measure, while the UAE partially closes its airspace. Later, the UAE indefinitely suspends all flights from the Al Maktoum and Dubai international airports. 2026-02-28
Twenty-eight people are killed and 23 others are injured when a bus carrying Shia Pakistani pilgrims to the Arba'in pilgrimage in Iraq crashes and overturns in Yazd province, Iran. 2024-08-21
Eighteen people are killed and 13 are injured after two minibuses carrying mostly Iranian Shia pilgrims collide between Dujail and Samarra in Saladin Governorate, Iraq. 2023-09-1
A Shi'ite cleric is shot dead at a mosque in Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. 2022-11-3
Angry supporters storm the United States embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, in response to the U.S. airstrike on Sunday against Kata'ib Hezbollah militants. Iraqi officials say the U.S. ambassador and staff have been evacuated, but the U.S. Army denies this. The U.S. ambassador is reportedly on holiday. U.S. President Donald Trump blames Iran for the attack. 2019-12-31
Canada's government adds Neo-Nazi groups Blood & Honour and Combat 18 to its list of designated terrorist organizations. It is the first time that extreme far-right groups have been designated as terrorist in Canada. Three Shia militant groups, including the Iranian-backed Al-Ashtar Brigades are also banned. 2019-06-26
Flights from Iran to Najaf, Iraq, are diverted to Baghdad due to anti-government protests. 2018-07-15
Violence erupts at a protest rally in Baghdad, Iraq, killing at least four protesters and one police officer. Thousands of supporters of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gathered in the capital to demand an overhaul of the country's electoral system. 2017-02-11
Protesters demanding political reform leave Baghdad's Green Zone after camping for 24 hours in the heavily fortified government district. These activists, followers of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Muqtadā al-Ṣadr, support Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's anti-corruption proposals to replace party-affiliated ministers with technocrats. A grid-locked parliament has been unable to act on these changes. 2016-05-1
The United States government implements new restrictions to its visa waiver program which now requires, with limited exceptions, European, Japanese and Australian travelers to the United States who either have been visitors in the last five years to or are dual-citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan to obtain a travel visa. The new visa policies were mandated by legislation which was passed, in the aftermath of November 2015 Paris attacks, by Congress on the grounds of national security. 2016-01-22