TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Oil prices held steady Friday after a big overnight gain as the US government lobbied international powers not to back down on OPEC’s second largest producer, Iran, over its nuclear program.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The US intelligence report that found no evidence of a current Iranian nuclear weapons program is a victory for the Islamic Republic, Iran’s president said on Wednesday.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Britain has been involved in espionage operation against Iran and has provided the US with the intelligence.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- The United States demanded on Thursday that Iran share any possible information about former FBI agent Robert Levinson who allegedly went missing in a business trip to the southern Iranian island of Kish in March.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- A US intelligence report saying Tehran does not have a nuclear weapons program will be a factor in deciding whether new sanctions on Iran are needed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF BASE: “The situation is getting more dangerous,” said Lieutenant Colonel Jorst Fohmann at a base of about 1,400 German soldiers at Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s presidential election is unlikely to take place on Friday as planned because rival leaders have yet to finalize a political deal to make the army chief president, political sources said on Thursday.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – Ratko Mladic, the fugitive Bosnian Serb general wanted for genocide by the U.N. tribunal, is most likely hiding in Serbia, Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic was quoted as saying on Thursday.

BELGRADE (Reuters) – An independent Kosovo would be a “puppet” of the United States and NATO, Serb Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said on Thursday, vowing that Serbia would never give up its breakaway province.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday he did not oppose dialogue with rival Hamas Islamists but reiterated the group must first relinquish control of the Gaza Strip.