Iran

After winning an oil and gas tender in Qatar recently, Indonesian state oil and gas company PT Pertamina is now setting its sights on an exploration right in Iran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday praised growing economic and political cooperation with Armenia, shoring up closer ties between Tehran and Yerevan.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in a letter to his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner stressed that West’s threats and UN Security Council sanctions cannot deter the Iranian nation and government from continuing nuclear progress.

Two Iranian students have designed and manufactured a drone which could be used both for reconnaissance operations and for launching limited attacks on enemy targets.

Iranian deputy foreign minister underlined the need for the rapid annihilation of chemical weapons in every possible way.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced pleasure with the developing ties between his country and Armenia, and called for the further bolstering of all-out cooperation between the two states.

Iran’s first Vice-President Parviz Davoudi extended his congratulations to Konstandinos Karamanlis and the Greek government and nation on his appointment as the country’s prime minister.

The US refrains from decreasing and dismantling its chemical weapons despite international calls, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said.

Iran is capable of exporting technologies to other countries, a research official said.

An earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale jolted the town of Khesht in Iran’s southern province of Fars on Monday.