The Middle East is in the midst of ever-increasing tension, as conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia is spiraling to involve more countries in the region. Saudi Arabia severed all diplomatic ties ...

Uh, isn't John McCain supposed to be the guy who knows who's what in terms of foreign policy, and specifically in the Middle East? So how it is exactly he thinks that Iran is arming al Qaeda? During a ...

Two countries that compete for the leadership of Islam, Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, have used the sectarian divide to further their ambitions. How their rivalry is settled will likely shape the ...

Commentator Anisa Mehdi is Iraqi American. And she says the current sectarian violence is part of the legacy of Saddam Hussein. ANISA MEHDI (Commentator): For my dad's generation being Sunni or Shia, ...

It is a problem that has been following Muslims for more than 1,400 years. It started with the end of Prophet Muhammad's life. The question of who would succeed Muhammad started as a difference of ...

The top cleric of one of the two long-divided branches of global Islam has called for Sunni and Shia Muslim leaders to meet together in a joint dialogue, using Pope Francis' visit to the Persian Gulf ...

When Arab leaders arrived in Iraq last week for the Arab League Summit, they were greeted by a city determined to impress. Driving into the city from Baghdad International Airport, they passed the ...

A new book on the Sunni–Shia conflict makes clear that the steady radicalization of sectarian difference in the Middle East was not inevitable. When you’ve done your day’s viewing of government ...

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with leaders of New York University's Muslim community about Shia and Sunni responses to the killings of Muslim men in Albuquerque, N.M. A conversation Muslims typically have ...

Pleasantries have barely been exchanged — the tea hasn’t even been served — before Haji Kaadam Jabbar Hamsa al-Qarghuli lets Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Rohling have it. “I am very angry,” says the ...