Iran

Turkey’s military has detained and brought charges against the eight Turkish soldiers recently released by Kurdish separatists for disobeying orders that have facilitated “catastrophe”, military sources said on Sunday.

Tehran quoted head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) Abdel Aziz Hakim as saying that three of its diplomats still kept in US captivity will be released in the near future.

Advisor to the head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) said Baghdad and Ankara have settled their recent border problems caused by a series of attacks launched against Turkey by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from inside its bases in northern Iraq.

Three foreign banks have received the permit to have banking activities in Iran, announced the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) governor here on Monday. 

 An 11-member parliamentary delegation from Britain arrived here in Tehran Monday morning.

An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale jolted the towns of Khonj and Evaz in Iran’s southern province of Fars on Monday.

Iran’s new chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili is set to meet EU foreign policy head Javier Solana later this month in a new bid to resolve the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has called for further strengthening trade ties and economic partnership with Iran and Turkey.

Iran’s central bank governor on Sunday dismissed US sanctions on Iranian banks as “psychological warfare” and said they would not prevent Tehran from finding other routes for meeting its banking needs.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is scheduled to arrive here in Tehran on Tuesday.