Peter Kenyon

One man in Turkey has made a following for himself by tracking one of the world's busiest and most scenic waterways. Istanbul is bisected by the Bosporus Strait.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is pushing ahead with a massive canal project through Istanbul — even though banks are afraid to fund it, and many think it is unnecessary.

U.N. efforts to start talks over the divided island of Cyprus failed for now — leaving the long standoff between Greeks and Turks in place.

In comments made public on Sunday, Mohammad Javad-Zarif discusses how he has "sacrificied diplomacy" in order to appease demands from the nation's military.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif showed up at a recent chat and erupted over a recent hit series. "He was really mad, yelling, because he was really outraged by that TV series," says an attendee.

President Biden on Saturday recognized the World War I-era mass killing and deportation of Armenians as genocide — a move that could make Turkey angry.

An Iranian nuclear facility was knocked off line Sunday. Iran has blamed Israel, which does not want Washington and Tehran to once again agree to a nuclear pact that would ease sanctions on Iran.

Stories of desperation among musicians are highlighting the economic problems facing Turkey, which started before the pandemic and have gotten worse since.

Women's rights advocates were shocked when Turkey unexpectedly withdrew from the international convention. Officials say the agreement's call to also protect LGBTQ rights violated Turkey's values.

The longer it takes, the tougher it may be to revive the deal putting limits on Iran's nuclear program. Iranians already feel burned from former president Trump backing out of their 2015 agreement.

The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran announced an deal to keep some verification activities going for the immediate future. Iran earlier had said it would suspend snap inspections.

In response to the Biden administration's offer to the rejoin nuclear talks, Iran says the U.S. must lift all sanctions before Tehran dials back its uranium enrichment efforts.

Many Iranians trying to get to the U.S. had been blocked by Trump administration rules. They — and some spouses already here — hope it will be possible now.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, said Sunday that all U.S. sanctions must end before Tehran will return to its commitment under the 2015 nuclear accord.

Authorities in Turkey are seeing massive student protests over the appointment of a ruling party official to run a prestigious university. More than 160 people have been detained by police.

Turkey says it has vaccinated more than a million front-line workers against COVID-19, and is now vaccinating people in their 80s. The country is hard hit — even as weekend lockdowns continue.

Iranians are looking at the COVID-19 crisis in their country with more fatigue than fear these days, though they wonder how it will affect upcoming elections.

The move is likely to increase tensions during President Trump's final weeks in office. Separately, Iran seized a South Korean oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, South Korea said Monday.

Tensions again increase between the U.S. and Iran, as the first anniversary approaches of the American drone strike that killed an Iran's top military commander.

One year after the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, NPR correspondents discuss what happened since and what Iran policy might look like under the Biden administration.