The two Mideast powerhouses have been trying to block the rise of Islamist groups in the region for two decades. The rebel takeover in Damascus will test that approach.

On Wednesday, a Syrian delegation that included Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, and intelligence chief Anas Khattab arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, for the new Syrian government’s first diplomatic trip abroad.

Ministers from Syria’s transitional government held talks in Saudi Arabia on Thursday on their first foreign visit since they toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month. “Through this first visit in the history of free Syria,

According to the agency, Russian large landing ships Ivan Gren and Aleksandr Otrakovsky, as well as the dry cargo ship Sparta, are scheduled to arrive in the Syrian port on Jan. 5. Two more Russian vessels — the universal cargo vessel Sparta II and the tanker Ivan Skoblev — are expected to arrive on Jan.

US conspiracy theories in Syria, claiming Western allies are plotting with IS terrorists to take over Russian military bases

Israel's military said the underground site was primed to produce hundreds of precision missiles for use against Israel by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday that dozens of its troops were flown into Syria in September to destroy an underground missile factory funded by Iran.Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists in an online briefing that "this precision-guided missile factory was dug in the side of a mountain underground in the area of Masyaf.

The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday unveiled video footage which showed the September 8 raid conducted by special forces on an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps arms facility used by Hezbollah forces in Syria.