Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa, heading a high-ranking delegation arrived here in Tehran on Monday.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said that his country’s oil revenues are projected to hit US$60 billion this year.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Sunday that Tehran hopes to resolve a decades-old dispute with neighboring Kuwait over their maritime border before the end of the year.

The United States will host a peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland on Tuesday aimed at relaunching talks on Palestinian statehood after a 7-year break.Here is a timeline of events in Middle East peacemaking.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group said on Sunday a U.S.-hosted Middle East peace conference this week was only a “media show” in support of Israel.

As Arab ministers fly in to Washington for this week’s Annapolis conference on making peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the most notable absentee is Hamas, winner of last year’s Palestinian general election.

Most Palestinians are skeptical Tuesday’s Annapolis peace conference can speed the creation of a state of their own but many still hope it may lead to improvements in living conditions and security.

Russian riot police beat opposition activists on Sunday and detained nearly 200 people at protest rallies against President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, Russia’s second city.

The Soviet Union’s former KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov, one of Russia’s most influential hardline spy masters, has died aged 83, Russia’s foreign intelligence service said on Sunday.

Syria said on Sunday it would attend a U.S.-led conference aimed at launching talks to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, giving another boost to U.S. efforts to enlist wide Arab support a new peace drive.