A senior Bahraini opposition figure says the ruling Al Khalifah regime exploited the latest parliamentary elections in order to burnish its international image and endorse normalization with Israel.

Iraq's prominent Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr says he is quitting politics and closing his institutions amid a deepening political deadlock in the country.

Hundreds of people gather inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, which houses the US embassy, to protest against the results of the recent parliamentary elections in the country.

Iraqis are going to elect a new parliament in the fifth such elections since a US invasion of Iraq in 2003.