Middle Orient News

TEHRAN (FNA) Hezbollah’s leader said Tuesday that any US attack on Iran would be “the biggest folly” in American history.

TEHRAN (FNA) Head of Foreign Policy Committee of Italian Parliament, Umberto Ranieri, said here on Monday that Iran acts as a bridge between West and East and it plays an influential role in the Middle East security.

TEHRAN (FNA) Since Iran has been cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency in a transparent manner, the UN Security Council should be brave enough to return Iran’s nuclear dossier to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iranian foreign minister here on Tuesday.

TEHRAN (FNA) Iran LNG Co. Managing Director Ali Kheir-Andish said the last part of Iran LNG contract would be finalized and signed on Feb. 28.

TEHRAN (FNA) The economic impact of US sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program is unclear and Iran has signed about $20 billion in energy contracts with foreign firms since 2003, said a US audit report.

BAGHDAD – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Iraq on Tuesday for passing the first in a series of critical laws meant to reconcile warring Iraqis, saying progress was remarkable even though more was needed.

ANKARA/SULAIMANIYA, Iraq – Turkish warplanes attacked Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq on Tuesday, Turkey’s General Staff said, but there were no reports of casualties or serious damage.

GAZA – Israel killed at least 18 Palestinians, nearly all Hamas militants, in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, in violence the Palestinian Authority said was a “slap in the face” to President George W. Bush’s peace efforts.

BEIRUT – A car bomb damaged a U.S. diplomatic vehicle in Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least three people and wounding 16, but the U.S. State Department said no Americans were hurt by the blast.

LEBANON – At least three people were killed in an explosion which damaged a U.S. diplomatic car in Beirut on Tuesday and wounded a passenger, security sources said.