Middle Orient

TEHRAN (FNA)- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the new game western powers have started in the nuclear standoff with Iran would bring them nothing but humiliation.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and Cuba concluded their 13th joint cooperation commission meeting by signing a memorandum of understanding to bolster cooperation.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Russia’s Gazprom Neft the oil arm of gas monopoly Gazprom plans to acquire new assets and therefore cannot yet predict its dividends in 2008, the firm’s head said on Friday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Major crude oil producer Iran said on Friday that increased oil output would not affect skyrocketing prices after a statement by Saudi Arabia revealed that the kingdom would pump more crude to market.

AMARA, Iraq (Reuters) – Supporters of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr accused Iraqi security forces on Friday of heavy-handed action in a crackdown in the southern city of Amara, calling it a “clear provocation”.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Hamas has won a measure of the international recognition it sought by indirectly negotiating a truce with Israel but faces a challenge keeping other Palestinian militant factions in line in the Gaza Strip.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq said on Wednesday it was committed to meeting a deadline for a long-term security pact with the United States, as Washington confirmed it dropped a demand concerning the divisive issue of immunity for private contractors.

AMARA, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraqi security forces launched a crackdown on Shi’ite militias in the southern city of Amara on Thursday, the commander of the operation said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A powerful car bomb exploded in a crowded market area of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 51 people and wounding 75, in the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in months. Police said the bomb was placed in a pickup truck parked next to minibus taxis near the …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s parliament will relocate just outside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone compound in September for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, a sign security is improving, the first deputy speaker said on Tuesday.