* Middle East still on edge despite pause in hostilities (adds Mahdi request to U.S)
* Middle East still on edge despite pause in hostilties (adds Iranian cleric)
* Middle East still on edge despite pause in hostilties (adds al-Sistani quotes)
BAGHDAD/DUBAI, Jan 10 Iraq's most senior Shi'ite Muslim cleric on Friday condemned mutual U.S. and Iranian attacks on Iraqi territory and warned of deteriorating security in the country and the wider Middle East as a result of Washington's confrontation with Tehran.
WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to stop President Donald Trump from further military action against Iran as the Middle East remained tense after the U.S. killing of a top Iranian commander and Iran's retaliatory missile strikes. | Video
* Trump says Iran's Soleimani plotted to blow up U.S. embassies
DUBAI/BAGHDAD, Jan 9 Iran spurned the U.S. president's call for a new nuclear pact and its commanders threatened more attacks, after both sides backed off from intensified conflict following the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and Tehran's retaliatory missile strikes.
- von Babak Dehghanpisheh und Jeff Mason und Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD/DUBAI President Donald Trump on Wednesday tempered days of angry rhetoric and suggested Iran was "standing down" after it fired missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq, as both sides looked to defuse a crisis over the U.S. killing of an Iranian general. | Video
BAGHDAD Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Wednesday urged Washington and Tehran to show restraint following Iranian missile attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq as he sought to deal with the two long-standing foes who are also Baghdad's main allies.
Iran said on Tuesday it had arrested people accused of a role in shooting down a Ukrainian airliner and had also detained 30 people involved in protests that have swept the nation for four days since the military belatedly admitted its error.