TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan are part of a “larger family”, given their historic ties and their cultural links, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference at the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Bolivian President Evo Morales said he’s seeking investment from Iran, Russia and Venezuela to boost natural gas output amid worsening relations with the US.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warned the West that its support for Israel will backfire.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A collection of calligraphic paintings by two Iranian artists was displayed at Iran’s cultural consulate in Rawalpindi on Friday.

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Somali pirates demanded a $35 million ransom on Saturday for a Ukrainian ship they had seized which was carrying 33 tanks and other military supplies to Kenya, a maritime official said.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces killed 30 militants loyal to al Qaeda and Taliban in the latest fighting in a strategically important tribal region on the Afghan border, officials said on Saturday.

At least 17 people been killed and 14 hurt by a car bomb on the outskirts of Syria’s capital, Damascus, reports say.

Turkish warplanes have attacked suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq.The raids, late on Thursday, hit areas in the Qandil mountains. A spokesman for the PKK rebels said one of its members and two civilians were wounded.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has reached a framework for pricing gas imports from Turkmenistan following a supply dispute last winter, with a senior official in Tehran saying the deal will be finalized once Ramadan ends next week.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Russia is seeking to forge closer ties with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and has invited the cartel’s members to a meeting in Moscow next month, Iran’s OPEC Governor said.