Eurasia

Chair of the European parliamentary group for relations with the Islamic Republic has said the European Union is looking to establish an independent financial system for banking relations with Iran. Janusz Lewandowski made the statement with Kazem Jalali, chairman of the Majlis research center, in Brussels on Saturday.

Iran has discussed trade in national currencies with Russia and Turkey in order to reduce the impact of U.S. dollar on the three countries’ trade and economies, ILNA reported on Saturday quoting Central bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati.

In a meeting in Tehran on Monday, high-ranking Iranian and Russian officials discussed issues related to the 2015 nuclear deal and ways to keep the internationally-backed agreement alive. The meeting was held between Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Ryabkov.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has reacted strongly to Washington’s announcement that President Donald Trump is going to chair the upcoming UN Security Council and use the opportunity against Iran. “There’s only one UNSC resolution on Iran. .@realDonaldTrump is violating it & bullying others to do same. Now he …

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will discuss various issues related to the Syrian crisis in a summit in Tehran on Friday. The topics of discussion will include provocations with the alleged use of chemical weapons, a Putin adviser said.

France says it has proposed that members of armed groups in Mali delaying implementation of a 2015 peace agreement should be put on a UN sanctions blacklist. France’s deputy UN ambassador Anne Gueguen told the Security Council on Thursday that the time for warnings is over and France has submitted …

Libya’s UN-backed government has announced a state of emergency in the capital and its outskirts as ongoing fighting has killed at least 39 people including civilians in the past days.

The death toll from a Boko Haram attack on a Nigerian army post on the border with Niger has risen to 48, military sources said on Monday. Scores of Boko Haram fighters in trucks stormed the base on Thursday in Zari village in northern Borno state and briefly seized it …

Clashes raged on Monday on the outskirts of Libya’s capital Tripoli trapping residents indoors and hampering rescue efforts, as the UN called for talks after more than a week of deadly violence. Fighting since August 27 between rival militias in the southern suburbs has killed at least 47 people and …

Senior Iraqi military commanders hosted their Russian, Iranian, and Syrian counterparts in Baghdad on Saturday to discuss security cooperation and information-sharing in the Middle East, where Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group continues to carry out attacks.