Middle East in review
Middle East in Review is a monthly gallery that features some of the top photojournalism made by AP staff photographers and freelancers based in AP’s Middle East, Afghanistan & Pakistan region.
In this month’s selection, Middle East Regional Photo Editor Maya Alleruzzo shares some of September’s highlights.
In the city of Ahvaz, Iran, amid wails and vows of revenge, thousands of Iranians on attended a mass funeral service for victims of an attack targeting a military parade that killed two dozen people.
The father of Mohammad Taha Eghadami, a 4-year-old boy who was killed in Saturday's terror attack on a military parade, mourns over his coffin during a mass funeral ceremony for the victims, in southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran, Monday, Sept. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
In this provided by Mehr News Agency, an Iranian soldier carries a child away from a shooting during a military parade, in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran on Sept. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Mehr News Agency, Mehdi Pedramkhoo)
The dead from the attack in the southwestern city, blamed on Arab separatists, ranged from a disabled war hero to a 4-year-old boy. The assault killed members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, including conscripts, wounded over 60 others and further ratcheted up tensions across the Persian Gulf ahead of this week’s United Nations General Assembly.
The father of 4-year-old victim Mohammad Taha lay atop his son’s flag-draped coffin sobbing, a public display of grief near the Sarallah Mosque in Ahvaz, the capital of Iran’s oil-rich province of Khuzestan.
A Palestinian protester carries a boy as he runs from tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during a protest on the beach near the border with Israel in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
On the Gaza Strip’s border with Israel, Israeli fire killed seven Palestinians, two of them children, and wounded dozens more, in the deadliest day in recent weeks as Gaza’s Hamas rulers stepped up protests along the border fence.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered at five locations along Gaza Strip’s frontier with Israel in response to calls by Hamas, the militant group that has controlled Gaza since seizing it from the Palestinian Authority in 2007.
Two of the dead were children, aged 12 and 14, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Hamas has led weekly protests since March, but accelerated them in recent weeks to near daily events, pressing in large part for an end to a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas’s violent takeover of Gaza in 2007. Hamas ousted forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an armed coup.
A man holds a national flag while protesters burn the municipal complex during protests demanding better public services and jobs in Basra, 340 miles (550 km) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
In the oil-rich city of Basra, Iraqis torched the Iranian consulate. Angry Basra residents have repeatedly taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest failing government services, including water contamination that sent thousands to hospitals.
Earlier this month, protests turned violent when demonstrators attacked and torched government offices, the headquarters of the Iranian-backed militias and Iran’s consulate in Basra — in a show of anger over what many residents perceive as Iran’s outsized control over local affairs.
Across the Shiite diaspora, passion plays and morning rituals marked the seventh century death of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. He was killed in the Battle of Karbala in what is now modern-day Iraq.
Bodies of cars go through an assembly line at the Iran Khodro automobile manufacturing plant, just outside Tehran, Iran on Sept. 9, 2018. As Iran's rial currency suffers precipitous falls against the U.S. dollar, cars are growing more and more expensive. Meanwhile, foreign manufacturers are pulling out from the country and foreign-produced parts are becoming harder to find. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Muslim Shiite women mourn during the holy day of Ashoura, at the Sadat Akhavi Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Sept 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Iranian armed forces members march in a military parade marking the 38th anniversary of Iraq's 1980 invasion of Iran, in front of the shrine of the late revolutionary founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Sept. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Shiites in costumes re-enact events of Ashoura while Iranian and Iraqi Shiite Muslims mourn in a procession, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sept 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Families of victims of Saturday's terror attack on a military parade in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, that killed 25 people attend a mass funeral ceremony, in Ahvaz, Iran, Sept. 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Iranian and Iraqi Shiite men mourn during the holy day of Ashoura, in southern Tehran, Iran, Sept 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Palestinian boy scouts march during a protest on the beach near the border with Israel in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Palestinian students stand in queue during a military skills training at Al-Rebat College for Law and Police Science in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Sept. 23, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
A Palestinian protester wears a plastic bag on his head as a protection from teargas as another waves a national flag during a protest at the entrance of Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip, Sept. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Muhammed al-Sadiq, 21, into the family home during his funeral in Gaza City, Sept. 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Palestinian protesters run for cover from teargas fired by Israeli soldiers during a protest on the beach at the border with Israel near Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Sept. 24, 2018.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
A Palestinian protester prays as others hurl stones and burn tires during a protest on the beach near the border with Israel in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Sept. 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A relative mourns over the body of 11-year old Shady Abdel-al during his funeral in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Sept. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Palestinians protest at the entrance of Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip, Sept. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Mahmoud Abdel-al, 11, cries during the funeral of his twin brother Shady Abdel-al in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip, Sept. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Muhammed al-Sadiq, 21, out of the family home during his funeral in Gaza City, Sept. 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Relatives mourn while waiting for the body of 15-year-old Palestinian Moumin Abu Eiada, during his funeral at his family house in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Sept. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
The mother of Ahamd Omar, 20, mourns while waiting with relatives for the body of her son at the family's house during his funeral in the Shati refugee camp, Sept. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Protesters try to storm and burn the governor's building during protests demanding better public services and jobs, Sept. 4, 2018, in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
A relative mourns over the body of Ali Qassim, killed during a protest, Sept. 4, 2018, in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
The blood-stained identification card of Ali Obaid, killed during a protest, lies on his body, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq.(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)
A young Palestinian protester is carried to an ambulance after being shot during a protest at the entrance of Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip, Sept. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
An armed man rides his motorcycle in the center of the northern city of Idlib, Syria on Sept. 10, 2018. (Ugur Can/DHA via AP)
Motorcycles ride past buildings destroyed during the fighting in the northern town of Ariha, in Idlib province, Syria on Sept. 20, 2018. (Ugur Can/DHA via AP)
A Syrian woman harvests Syrah grapes, which will be crushed, fermented and after triple distillation will become Lebanon's national alcoholic drink, arak, in the village of Ammik, east Lebanon on Sept. 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese men sunbathe on the rocky shore of the Mediterranean Sea off the Corniche, or waterfront promenade, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Lebanese Shiite supporter of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, with a portrait on his head of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, attends an activities to mark the ninth of Ashura, a 10-day ritual commemorating the death of Imam Hussein, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Shiite faithful pilgrims beat themselves with chains as a sign of grief for Imam Hussein during the Muslim month of Muharram, in Karbala south of Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man holds a chicken during the Kaparot ritual in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sept. 16, 2018. Observant Jews believe the ritual transfers one's sins from the past year into the chicken, and is performed before the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year which starts at sundown Tuesday. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Lebanese young girls sit on a rock and enjoy the Mediterranean Sea off the Corniche, or waterfront promenade, as the sunset during the last day of summer season, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sept. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Models present traditional jewelry designed by Nida Azwer during a fashion show by the Loreal Paris Pakistan Fashion Design Council in Lahore, Pakistan, Sept. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Curated by Middle East Regional Photo Editor Maya Alleruzzo