Middle Orient

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A car bomb killed 20 people and wounded 60 in the Iraqi city of Baquba on Tuesday, police said. Police said they expected the death toll to rise.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Economic and finance minister presided over the first meeting of the Supreme Council for Campaign against Money Laundering here Saturday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki lashed out at the United States for continuing failed policies, saying the fact that the US renewed its contract with Blackwater signals Washington’s desire to pursue its ‘failed policies’ in Iraq.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran recommended foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany to avoid following wrong strategies on Iran’s nuclear program.

TEHRAN (FNA)- In a letter to the Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Iran has urged global support for the rights of Palestinian people.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Swiss president voiced strong support for his country’s gas deal with Iran, and dismissed the US pressure to discourage his country from entering into the deal.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Vice-President and head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) called on Tehran and Seoul to take improved measures to introduce their civilizations to each other, saying that the move can boost the two nations’ cultural ties.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A planned meeting between the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Gholam Reza Aghazadeh and the UN nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has been postponed “based on mutual agreement”, Iranian officials said.

TEHRNA (FNA)- The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago has started taking three-dimensional pictures of Iran’s Achaemenid inscriptions.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Persian gardens are open green spaces designed and built with similar principals, and techniques. Influenced by the Iranian culture and civilization, they have stood the test of time for thousands of years throughout the entire region.