Middle Orient

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here Wednesday said that his country has started uranium enrichment at an industrial scale since the beginning of the current Iranian year, (started March 21).

A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei is likely to be released Wednesday afternoon.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is scheduled to pay a several-hour visit to Tehran following his attendance in the upcoming summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia early next week.

174 Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly gave vote of confidence to the President’s nominee and elected Ali Akbar Mehrabian as Industries and Mines Minister.

217 Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly gave vote of confidence to the President’s nominee and elected Gholam Hossein Nozari as Oil Minister.

Italy’s ENI will continue to do business in Iran amid US pressure for companies to cut investment in the country, ENI’s chief executive said in an interview published Wednesday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Tuesday that the visit of IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to Iran is on the agenda but the exact time would be announced after mutual confirmation.

Sanctions are not the way to resolve the deepening international confrontation over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, China said on Tuesday, while also urging Tehran to be more compromising.

.S. and Iraqi forces killed an estimated 15 al Qaeda gunmen during a fierce battle south of Baghdad after the militants launched a major attack on recently formed neighborhood patrols, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

Following are security developments in Iraq at 8:00 a.m. EST on Tuesday.* Denotes new or updated item. * HAWIJA – Gunmen killed a policeman and an Iraqi soldier when they opened fire on their car in central Hawija, 70 km (43 miles) southwest of the northern city of Kirkuk, police …