Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, speaks during the first meeting of national security secretaries in the Iranian capital Tehran on September 26, 2018. (Photo: Atta Kenare / AFP)
President Masoud Barzani in meeting with the leader of the Sunni al-Azim alliance Khamis al-Khanjar, in Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Dec. 4, 2021. (Photo: KDP)
In this file photo, the then-co-chair of the HDP Selahattin Demirtaş delivers a speech in Istanbul during a rally, Istanbul, Turkey, June 5, 2016. (Photo: AFP)
Lebanon's Information Minister George Kordahi speaks during a press conference to announce his resignation at the Ministry of Information in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. (Photo: Bilal Hussein / AP)
Employees of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission conduct a partial manual recount of votes for the October 10 parliamentary elections, in Baghdad, Nov. 23, 2021. (Photo: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP)