Middle Orient

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran on Saturday reaffirmed its rejection of any talks with world powers over the nuclear crisis, saying it would only negotiate with the UN atomic watchdog.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger said the US should negotiate directly with Iran over its nuclear program and other bilateral issues, and further criticized Washington’s policy for a regime change in Iran.

KUT, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraqi police arrested dozens of members of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia on Saturday, hours after two policemen were killed in gunbattles in the southern city of Kut, police said.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday condemned a bid by state prosecutors to shut down his ruling AK Party as an attack on democracy and political stability and vowed to resist it.

The arrests came after police raids in several districts of Istanbul and the seizure of bomb-making equipment and documents, the agency said.

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s most revered cleric said in a rare fatwa this week that two writers should be tried for apostasy for their “heretical articles” and put to death if they do not repent.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s top arbitration body, the Expediency Council, here on Saturday reviewed its annual performance during a last meeting in the current Iranian year.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Government Spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham Saturday briefed reporters about the latest stances and decisions adopted during a cabinet meeting here today.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has achieved a landslide victory in Iran’s Friday elections.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Tata Steel is in advanced talks to buy chrome ore from Iran for its South African ferrochrome plant.