TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Thursday that oil markets were well supplied and he saw no need for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to boost production at its meeting on Friday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iran’s top legislative official who met Wednesday with Egypt’s president said the two countries could soon restore diplomatic relations severed nearly three decades ago.

TEHRAN (FNA) – A one month delay to consider a new UN Security Council draft resolution against Iran’s nuclear program would not be a disaster, a South African official said on Thursday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Thursday to attend the 10th summit of the African Union.

BAGHDAD – Iraq said on Wednesday it was determined to “cleanse” its northern city of Mosul of al Qaeda fighters but its U.S. backers said a planned operation might not deal the decisive blow that Baghdad wanted.

PRISTINA, Serbia – Kosovo will declare independence from Serbia with Western backing the weekend after the February 3 Serbian presidential election if the nationalist candidate wins, political sources said on Wednesday.

CAIRO – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday rejected demands by Hamas for control of the Gaza border and told the Islamist group to “end its coup in Gaza”.

A cameraman working for an Iraqi Shi’ite satellite television channel and his driver were killed by a roadside bomb attack north of Baghdad on Tuesday, an official from the channel said.

WASHINGTON – A senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday some fraud was to be expected in Pakistan’s elections on February 18 but the United States was working hard to ensure a poll that is “as free and fair as possible.”

WASHINGTON – The Iraqi government could see a windfall from higher oil prices this year, while it moves to assume greater responsibility for security and economic development, a U.S. government watchdog said on Wednesday.