EU foreign ministers are set to refrain from moving towards extra European penalties against Iran as favored by France due to persistent disagreements among member states.

Japan said Friday it was working with Iranian authorities to free a student kidnapped by bandits, saying it was unclear how long he would be held captive.

Iran and experts from the UN nuclear watchdog are satisfied with the results of the recent talks on Tehran’s controversial nuclear program, Iran’s deputy nuclear negotiator said.

Most of the Middle East on Friday marked the start of the feast marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with crisis, violence, fear and isolation all casting a pall over one of the happiest dates on the Islamic calendar.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Marine Corps reportedly wants to withdraw its entire force from Iraq to focus its combat efforts on Afghanistan.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s lower house of parliament on Friday overwhelmingly approved extending the deployment of 3,000 troops and six reconnaissance jets in Afghanistan for another year, despite mounting public skepticism about the mission.

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan authorities this week shut down two private security companies and said more than 10 others – some suspected of murder and robbery – would soon be closed, Afghan and Western officials said yesterday.

The pilot and co-pilot of a civil plane were killed after it crashed onto a factory in northeastern Tehran at around midday.

Iran, enjoying wide popular support, is the most democratic, stable and secure country in the region, but enemies cannot stand this fact, Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel said in a meeting with members of the Presidential Council of Bosnia-Herzegovina Wednesday night.

Iran’s military achievements are not at all comparable with what existed in the past, a senior Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) official said here on Wednesday.