Iran

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa here on Monday, said Tehran believes that Sri Lanka’s progress and mightiness would serve interests of regional countries.

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.

Iran said on Sunday a Middle East conference organized by the United States would result in an erosion of Palestinian rights because Washington had shown in the past that it was not an objective mediator.

Turkish and US commanders on Saturday discussed measures against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, while Turkey’s prime minister said the struggle against the separatists was at a “critical stage”.

Ivory Coast’s foreign minister is scheduled to arrive here in Tehran Sunday night to attend the first meeting of the two countries’ joint economic commission.

 Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to pay a visit to Iran on Monday.