January 5 — Iraq

A wave of bombings across Iraq kills about 72 people. The assailants target Shia pilgrims in Nasiriya and Shia Muslims in Baghdad neighborhoods. Sectarian tensions have risen again since the U.S. pulled out its troops from Iraq and an arrest warrant issued for Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi. (January 24): Several car bombs in Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad kill about 13 people and injure scores of others.

January 11: Iran

Iranian university professor and a nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan is killed after a bomb was planted under his car. Ahmadi-Roshan worked at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, and is the most recent of several scientists assassinated in the past year. No one takes responsibility, although Iran blames Israel and the United States.

January 23: Iran

The European Union adopts an oil embargo on Iran, a new step over the country’s controversial nuclear program. The embargo bans new oil contracts with the country and freezes assets of Iran’s central bank in the European Union.

February 4: Syria

China and Russia veto a UN Security Council draft resolution condemning the Syrian government for its violent crackdown on protesters and calling to end the killings and to implement political changes.

February 7: Iraq

Iraq’s Sunni ministers and most of 76 parliamentarians from the Iraqiyya bloc, who boycotted the cabinet and the parliament since last December, end their walkout in order to avert a political crisis and a collapse of the unity government.

February 19: Iran

Iran announces that it is halting oil exports to Great Britain and France in response to an earlier decision by the European Union (EU) to impose an embargo on imports of Iranian crude as of July 1. The EU’s embargo is meant to put pressure on Iran to stop enriching uranium, which can be used in nuclear weapons. Both Great Britain and France import only a fraction of their foreign oil from Iran.

February 21: Yemen

Yemen’s vice president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, is elected the country’s new president in uncontested elections. He will replace embattled Ali Abdullah Saleh after 33 years in power. Hadi vows to reunite the country after recent fighting between the government forces and many different factions, and to bring thousands of refugees back.

March 4: Yemen

More than 100 people are killed in Yemen during clashes between rebels linked to al-Qaeda in Yemen and the country’s security forces. The fighting takes place in the southern province of Abyan, not far from Zinjibar, the city occupied by the militants.

March 8: Syria

A Syrian deputy oil minister, Abdo Hussameddin, defects from the government to join the rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Hussameddin is the highest-ranking official to leave the Syrian government.

March 14: Syria

Syrian government troops take over the city of Idlib, the stronghold of the opposition rebel troops, the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The United Nations (UN) estimates that more than 9,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the Syrian uprising. (March 27): The Syrian government accepts the UN-sponsored peace plan drafted by UN envoy Kofi Annan, which calls on all parties to cease fire and allow humanitarian aid into the country. China and Russia agree to support the plan after the modifications of an earlier one. The UN, however, is unable to make it a formal resolution.

March 26: Israel

Israel cuts its relations with the United Nations Human Rights Council after the Council voted to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on rights of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.

April 2: Syria

Former UN Secretary General and the main mediator with the Syrian government Kofi Annan says Syrian President Bashir —al-Assad has agreed to abide by the UN-brokered peace plan and withdraw his forces and enforce a ceasefire. (April 8): The Syrian government announces it will not withdraw until it receives the similar guarantees from the rebel groups. The fighting continues, with hundreds of people being killed.

May 10: Syria

Two synchronized bombings in the Syrian capital of Damascus kill at least 55 people and injure a score of others. This one of the most destructive attacks is organized by an Islamic group called al-Nusra Front, whose tactics resemble those of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The explosions take place near a military intelligence building, and as the militants claim, is revenge for the government attacks on civilians. Violence in Syria continues despite a ceasefire monitored by the UN observers.

June 1: Syria

The United Nations Human Rights Council calls for an investigation into a massacre in Houla, Syria, where 108 civilians were executed. Forty-one UNHRC members vote in support of a resolution condemning Syria, while Russia, China, and Cuba vote against it. (June 7): Syrian pro-government forces and militia known as shabiha massacre 78 people in the village of Qubair in Hama province, many of them women and children. The attack increases concerns of sectarian violence. Survivors from Qubair, which is mostly populated by Sunni Muslims, blame the attack on a neighboring village whose inhabitants are from the Alawite ethnic group. (June 22): The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the violence forces more and more Syrians to flee the country, while 1.5 million are in need of humanitarian aid. (June 27): After almost a year since the beginning of the uprising, Syrian President Bashir al-Assad admits that his country is in the state of a civil war.

June 18: Iraq

A suicide bomber targeting a Shia funeral in the Iraqi town of Baquba kills at least 30 people and injures scores of others. So far in June itself, more than 130 people, mostly Shia Muslims, have been killed in violent attacks across Iraq.

June 27: Kuwait

Kuwaiti constitutional court rules the February parliamentary elections illegal and dissolves the parliament dominated by Sunni Islamists. It also reinstates the previous pro-government parliament. The decision sparks massive protests throughout the country.

July 17: Israel

Israel’s centrist Kadima party, the largest party in the country’s parliament, leaves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition over a dispute involving military conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews who, so far, have been exempt from service. After the Israeli Supreme Court ruled the Tal Law — the law that allows religious students to defer their military service — unconstitutional, Netanyahu’s Likud party has proposed a new conscription agreement, which has been rejected by Kadima and other religious parties in his coalition.

July 18: Syria

The Free Syria Army attacks the national security building in Damascus, killing President Assad’s top security chief and brother-in-law, his defense minister, and the chief of the regime’s crisis management office. The rebels also seize the city of Aleppo, one of Syria’s major centers. The government launches an offensive to recapture the city, forcing 200,000 people to flee the fighting.

August 6: Syria

Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab is the most senior official in President Bashir al-Assad’s government to defect and join the rebel forces. This defection is seen by many as a final stage of the Assad regime. Before Hijab, there have been 30 Syrian generals and another two ministers who fled the country. Finance Minister Mohammad Jalilati was arrested during his attempt to flee.

September 7: Iran

Canada breaks off diplomatic relations with Iran after Iran’s continued support for troubled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and over its insistence to continue its nuclear program and failure to comply with the United Nations inspectors. Canada also designates Iran as a country that sponsors terrorism.

September 9: Iraq

A court in Iraq sentences Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi to death in absentia accusing him of running hit squads. Hashemi, a Sunni in a majority Shia government, rejects the sentence, saying it is politically motivated. He is in exile in Turkey.

September 11: Yemen

Yemeni Defense Minister General Muhamman Nasir Ahmad survives an assassination attempt that kills 11 other people. Although no group claims responsibility, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is suspected for planting the car bomb.

October 4: Turkey/Syria

Turkey strikes targets in Syria in retaliation for Syria’s deadly bombardment of a Turkish border town of Akcakale, which killed five people. Turkey also calls on the United Nations to take action and stop Syrian aggression.

October 26: Syria

The UN-brokered ceasefire between the Syrian troops and the country’s rebels for the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha breaks down with continued attacks. International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who mediated the ceasefire, had hoped the truce would lead to a peace process. It is estimated that in the 18 months of fighting at least 30,000 have been killed and the international community has been unable to find a diplomatic solution to end the conflict.

November 11: Syria

During the talks in the Qatari capital, Doha, Syria’s various opposition groups, including the Syrian National Council, fighting to overthrow the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, unite under the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. (November 13): France is the first country to recognize the opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. (November 20): The United Kingdom similarly recognizes the Syrian opposition coalition.

November 14: Israel/Palestinian Territories

Israel launches a military offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing the commander of Hamas’s military wing, Ahmed Jabari. The offensive was preceded by waves of rockets fired by the Palestinian militants into southern Israel. Israel says that the objective of the operation is to destroy two dozens of rocket-storage places and Hamas facilities. (November 21): Israel and Hamas agree to a ceasefire brokered by Egypt. Israel agrees to stop the offensive and targeted killings and Hamas agrees to stop attacks on Israel, including rocket attacks. In the week of confrontation, 158 Palestinians are killed (mostly civilians) and six Israelis.

November 30: Palestinian Territories

The Untied Nations General Assembly votes 138 against 9 to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state. Forty-one countries abstain, while Israel and the United States vote against the move. Although the move is mostly symbolic, it gives Palestine access to UN organizations, such as the International Criminal Court. The Palestinians are seeking UN recognition of a Palestinian state, which would include the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem.

December 3: Israel/Palestinian Territories

In response to the United Nations accepting the Palestinian Authority as a permanent observer at the UN, Israel announces it will proceed with expanding its settlement in the area known as E1 between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim. Israel previously promised to freeze any construction in this controversial zone because this would separate the future Palestinian state on the West Bank from Jerusalem, which the Palestinians consider as their future capital. By going ahead with this project, Israel risks good relations with its allies, even the United States, which was ensured of the freeze.

December 12: Syria

The United States officially recognizes Syria’s opposition coalition, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, as the representative of all people of Syria. The coalition is formed mostly by Sunni Muslims who are a majority in Syria. Great Britain, Turkey, France, and the Gulf states have already recognized the coalition.