Russian President Vladimir Putin will take a trip to Iran on October 16, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said.

Deputy Managing Director of a Russian telecommunication company voiced eagerness of his enterprise to make investments in Iran.

Syria dismissed reports that a visit to Suadi Arabia by its foreign minister had been cancelled, saying that no such visit had originally been on the working agenda of Walid Mualem.

Caretaker of the Iranian Oil Ministry Gholam Hossein Nozari said that his country would produce 5.3 bln barrels of oil per day by the year 2014.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini here Wednesday stressed that the testimony of the two US senior officials to the Congress on Iraq war would not rescue the United States from the Iraq quagmire.

Iranian officials said on Wednesday that Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American arrested on charges of harming national security earlier this year, would not be allowed to leave the country after he is released on bail.

A polymer update team member reported that the Islamic republic is slated to export petrochemical products amounting to 21 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2007 to March 20, 2008).

Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran should be brought to higher level, chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Clerical Board said in a meeting with the chairman of the Iranian-Azerbaijani friendship group and former Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan.

The top US commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, faced a tough challenge on Tuesday from both Republicans sceptical about war strategy and Democrats who want a swifter withdrawal of American troops.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem called off a visit planned for Tuesday to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the first since a public row between the two countries, a Saudi official said.