On 20 January, three suicide drones targeted al-Tanf, a military base in southeastern Syria hosting US forces. 

The attack didn't cause significant losses: the troops there shot down two of the drones, while the third exploded after colliding with a building belonging to an allied Syrian rebel group, US forces said at the time.

Two days later, an unknown armed group called "the Inheritors" claimed responsibility.

Its statement, published by websites linked to Iranian-backed armed factions, was adorned with a green title that read "Islamic Resistance in Iraq - Formation of the Inheritors".

"No one can ever stop our operations," the group said, dating the statement as the same day the operation was carried out.

Iraq is set to start paying for Iranian gas imports with oil in order to avoid falling foul of US sanctions.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Tuesday said that Baghdad and Tehran had signed an agreement following several days of talks for "the import of Iranian gas to fuel Iraqi power plants, in exchange for Iraqi crude oil".

"The agreement aims to address the gas supply crisis for power plants, while tackling payment issues and complications arising from US sanctions," said the statement from the prime minister's office.

Iraq is reliant on Iranian gas for a third of its energy needs, but is unable to directly pay for it as a result of US sanctions on Iran, forcing the country to resort to a complicated mechanism for transferring funds.

According to the mechanism, payments were to be held in a bank account and - following approval from Washington - be used by Tehran to fund imports of food and medicines, a method which left Iraq in heavy arrears.

Earlier this month, Iran halved its supply of gas to Iraq because of unpaid bills of more than $12 billion, according to Sud...

Kuwait prints 100,000 copies of the Quran in Swedish

The Kuwaiti government announced plans to print 100,000 copies of the Quran translated into Swedish, Kuwait News Agency Kuna reported on Tuesday. 

The move came in response to the burning of the Quran by a man in Sweden during the festival of Eid-al-Adha last month, which caused outrage among Muslims worldwide.

"This step comes within the framework of affirming the tolerance of Islam and for spreading Islamic values and coexistence among all human beings," the official agency said.

Fahd al-Daihani, head of the general authority for printing and publishing the Quran in Kuwait, said the body has begun taking steps to implement the governments directives.

"[The move] aims to affirm the tolerance of the Islamic faithin an atmosphere of love, tolerance and peace, highlighting mercy and rejecting hatred, extremism and religious fanaticism," al-Daihani said.