Middle Orient News

Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani said that Iran supports the Palestinian national unity government.

Major powers try again on Thursday to negotiate sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment but remain divided over how stiff the measures should be, diplomats said.

Iran’s Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors Ali Asqar Soltanieh in Vienna on Wednesday called on the UN nuclear watchdog to treat nuclear cases of all world countries through a single approach and under fair and equal conditions.

An Expert Assembly member here in Tehran on Wednesday said that the United States’ pressures on Iran are aimed at stopping Iran’s rapid growth, adding that Washington seeks to prevent the Islamic Republic from becoming a regional power in the Middle-East.

Comorian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ben Sa’id Jaffar said that his visit to Tehran is aimed at deepening of cooperation, adding that he is conveying a message from his president to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that his country is scheduled to construct oil reserve tanks in Comoros in order to have ready stockpiles for customers.

The Taliban have yet to decide the fate of Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, Taliban spokesman Kari Mohammad Yousif Ahmadi said Thursday. Ahmadi told DPA they captured the reporter for La Repubblica newspaper and his two Afghan assistants in Helmand province Monday because Mastrogiacomo is a spy for British troops. ‘The …

KABUL, Afghanistan – NATO-led troops launched an offensive against Taliban militants in a southern Afghan province where hundreds of militant fighters have massed in recent months. One NATO soldier was killed yesterday in combat in the south.      The operation, which will eventually involve 4,500 NATO troops and 1,000 Afghan …

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces arrested a suspected bomb expert and five other terror suspects Wednesday in eastern Afghanistan, as NATO forces in the south fought Taliban militants in the second day of the alliance’s largest-ever offensive in Afghanistan.       The U.S.-led coalition had information indicating ”a …

By Matt Dupee  NATO officials announced the beginning of a joint security operation with Afghan army units in northern Helmand province. Dubbed Operation Achilles, nearly 4,500 NATO and 1,000 ANA troops will be eventually used to subdue the violence ridden areas of northern Helmand.