TEHRAN (FNA) – In a meeting with a journalist from Japan’s Tokyo Shimbun daily, Iran’s vice-president in charge of tourism has invited Japanese tourists to visit Iran.

TEHRAN (FNA) – The international community must increase its diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview aired Monday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iran has begun importing 1 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from Azerbaijan, in an apparent move to help compensate for shortages caused by a cut in Turkmen deliveries.

TEHRAN (FNA) – An Iraqi delegation arrived in Iran on Monday to discuss the Algiers agreement which defines their common border.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iran has started pumping oil from its biggest onshore oilfield of Azadegan in the southwest of the country, a project that was originally to be developed with a Japanese partner.

UNITED NATIONS – If the U.N. Security Council does nothing to stop Kosovo from seceding, it will tell the world that no country’s sovereignty and borders are safe, Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Monday.

BUCHAREST – Romania’s will not recognize Kosovo independence, parliament declared on Monday, highlighting fears that such a move could fuel separatist moves in the Balkans.

SARAJEVO – Ethnic Serbs in Bosnia and Montenegro reject Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia and will try to block its recognition by their own countries, officials said on Monday.

DUBAI – Iraq is inching toward attracting the billions of dollars needed to revamp its oil sector but international oil companies are still not ready to commit the massive sums required.

Iraq currently produces only a fraction of its vast reserves, the third-largest in the world and among the cheapest to produce, and international oil firms have been positioning for years to gain access.