Eurasia

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Mashallah Shakeri urged Islamic nations to enhance unity, saying that Tehran and Pakistan play a pivotal role in strengthening solidarity among Muslims.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met with his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan on the sidelines of the 63rd annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan are part of a “larger family”, given their historic ties and their cultural links, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference at the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday.

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Somali pirates demanded a $35 million ransom on Saturday for a Ukrainian ship they had seized which was carrying 33 tanks and other military supplies to Kenya, a maritime official said.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani security forces killed 30 militants loyal to al Qaeda and Taliban in the latest fighting in a strategically important tribal region on the Afghan border, officials said on Saturday.

Turkish warplanes have attacked suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq.The raids, late on Thursday, hit areas in the Qandil mountains. A spokesman for the PKK rebels said one of its members and two civilians were wounded.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has reached a framework for pricing gas imports from Turkmenistan following a supply dispute last winter, with a senior official in Tehran saying the deal will be finalized once Ramadan ends next week.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Russia is seeking to forge closer ties with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and has invited the cartel’s members to a meeting in Moscow next month, Iran’s OPEC Governor said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Azerbaijan Republic is sticking to plans to reduce oil exports to the EU and increase shipments to Iran, as the South Caucasus country home to another Russia-influenced frozen conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh seeks to spread the risk.

TANG KHATTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani forces have killed up to 1,000 Islamist militants in fighting in the strategically important northwestern region of Bajaur this month, an army commander said on Friday.