An Iranian legislative official here on Saturday protested at the abduction and torture of Iranian diplomat Jalal Sharafi as a blatant violation of the international rules, stressing that the US should be accountable for its inhuman acts and behavior.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel here on Friday strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Iraq’s National Assembly.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is scheduled to leave Tehran for Latin America this week. The visit is aimed at developing bilateral ties with the different Latino states, including Venezuela.

Member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are due to convene in Vienna as of April 30 to May 11 to attend a provisional meeting on the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) revision, Iran’s permanent representative to the IAEA Ali Asqar Soltanieh said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will pay a visit to Iran in the next few months, the country’s ambassador to Tehran said here on Saturday.

A prominent Iranian lawmaker called for the immediate freedom of the five Iranian diplomats kidnapped during a raid by the US troops on Iran’s consulate general in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil around three months ago.

The head of the UN atomic watchdog said on Thursday that Iran was still at the starting stage of creating a uranium enrichment plant, and further dismissed concerns about Iran’s activities, saying that the country’s nuclear programs are under IAEA inspection.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel here on Friday strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Iraq’s National Assembly.

BERLIN (AFP) – The UN envoy in Afghanistan, Tom Koenigs, urged talks with all the forces in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, to stanch the bloodshed in the country, in an interview published Friday. “If there is to be a chance for peace, we must talk to everyone, including alleged war …

KABUL (AFP) – US and Afghan troops backed by warplanes killed more than 35 Taliban militants during a five-hour battle in a bitterly contested area of southern Afghanistan, the US-led coalition said Friday. Meanwhile a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldier was killed in a separate gunbattle with rebels …