Middle Orient News

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iran’s top legislative official who met Wednesday with Egypt’s president said the two countries could soon restore diplomatic relations severed nearly three decades ago.

TEHRAN (FNA) – A one month delay to consider a new UN Security Council draft resolution against Iran’s nuclear program would not be a disaster, a South African official said on Thursday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Thursday to attend the 10th summit of the African Union.

BAGHDAD – Iraq said on Wednesday it was determined to “cleanse” its northern city of Mosul of al Qaeda fighters but its U.S. backers said a planned operation might not deal the decisive blow that Baghdad wanted.

CAIRO – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday rejected demands by Hamas for control of the Gaza border and told the Islamist group to “end its coup in Gaza”.

A cameraman working for an Iraqi Shi’ite satellite television channel and his driver were killed by a roadside bomb attack north of Baghdad on Tuesday, an official from the channel said.

WASHINGTON – The Iraqi government could see a windfall from higher oil prices this year, while it moves to assume greater responsibility for security and economic development, a U.S. government watchdog said on Wednesday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Officials of the United Arab Emirates’ private energy firm Crescent Petroleum arrived here in Tehran to continue long-running talks over pricing Iran’s gas supplies to the Persian Gulf Arab state.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel in a meeting with the Sheikh of al-Azhar University, Muhammad Sayyed al-Tantawi called for unity among Muslim nations.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Bahrain’s ambassador to Tehran in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki here Wednesday submitted a message from his King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa to the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.