China said on Friday the new sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran can only make the Iranian nuclear issue complicated.

Tehran’s provisional Friday Prayers leader Ali Jannati dismissed as biased certain analyses presented about the resignation of Iran’s former nuclear negotiator, stressing that Ali Larijani’s replacement with Saeed Jalili would not be followed by a shift in Tehran’s nuclear policy.

Iran’s first Vice-President Parviz Davoudi said his country’s relations with Syria are at the highest levels possible, adding that Tehran has not set a limit on the expansion of its relations with Damascus.

Trade between Iran and Thailand grew to $409.990 mln in the first half of this year, up 74.76 per cent over the comparable 2006 figure of $234.60 mln, the Iranian ambassador to Thailand said on Friday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a message to Heinz Fischer on Friday extended his congratulations to the Austrian president, government and nation on the country’s national day.

Former Commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps dismissed US accusations about IRGC’s role in supporting terrorism, underlying that the United States and Zionists are the main and real contributors to present insecurities and terrorism worldwide.

The visit to Armenia by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was fruitful, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told a news conference in Yerevan.

Germany’s foreign minister held “constructive” talks with Iran’s nuclear negotiators on Thursday and urged them to continue cooperation with the international community to resolve a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Oil rose above $92 a barrel for the first time in New York after the US charge Iran with baseless accusations and stepped up pressure on foreign companies to cut ties with the Middle East oil producer.

Former head of Iran’s team of nuclear negotiators Ali Larijani said that “new and constructive ideas” had emerged during talks in Rome on Tehran’s nuclear program.