After months of tensions and pressure from both the U.S. and Iran, Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman, was named as prime minister-designate.

The journalist, Shelly Kittleson, was abducted by a militia allied with Iran and held for a week. Iraqi officials say she was freed in exchange for the release of militia members.

Attacks on schools and property in several countries have Jewish communities on edge, amid suspicions that Iran is behind the violence.

The Pentagon has identified the six United States service members who died last week when a refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq. With their deaths, the total number of service members killed in the war with Iran has risen to at least 13.

Six crew members died after a military refueling plane crashed in Iraq on Thursday, the U.S. Central Command said. Officials said the crash was not caused by hostile or friendly fire.

The crash was not because of hostile or friendly fire, U.S. Central Command said. Four crew members died, it said, bringing the number of U.S. service members killed in the Iran conflict to at least 11.

Spread across Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, the ethnic group of 40 million has long sought, and fought for, greater autonomy.

The C.I.A. has given small weapons to Iranian Kurdish forces in Iraq in a covert program that began before the current war.

Fighting is spreading through the Middle East as Iran retaliates against a huge American-Israeli military campaign.

JD Vance long championed opposition to conflicts abroad. With President Trump all-in on war with Iran, the vice president is staying loyal even as allies make his qualms known.