A truck bombing claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 54 people in a Shiite-majority area of Baghdad, the deadliest single attack in Iraq's capital in months.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, and called on regional countries to "fight terrorism and extremism".
According to Kazakhstan’s political scientist Yerlan Karin, the number of fighters that the ISIS or Daish, its Arabic acronym, is luring has been decreasing.
Turkey's foreign minister said that Kurdish rebels "never respected" the peace process with Ankara, with a ceasefire now in tatters after a series of attacks and cross-border offensives.
US President Barack Obama said that the war in Syria would not likely end before he leaves office in early 2017 and reaffirmed his belief that there is no "military solution" to the conflict.
Iran can play a major role in persuading Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to cooperate in peace talks, EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said.