Middle Orient

Egyptian security forces have raided the houses of Muslim Brotherhood members and arrested more than 90 people from the banned political group, the Muslim Brotherhood said Wednesday on its Web site.

Iraqi radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has extended for another six months a cease-fire between his Mahdi army militia and U.S. and Iraqi forces. 

BEIRUT – Lebanon has moved to regularize the status of Iraqi refugees residing illegally in the country, a decision the top U.N. refugee agency says will benefit thousands of Iraqis and help release hundreds in detention.

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq – The Turkish military shelled several Kurdish rebel positions inside northern Iraq on Thursday, an Iraqi security official said.

ANKARA – Turkey’s president said on Thursday he hoped the victory of Serzh Sarksyan in Armenia’s presidential election would lead to a normalization of relations between their estranged countries.

TEHRAN (FNA) – A senior Iranian lawmaker said here Wednesday that Russia would have priority in future tenders for the construction of new nuclear power plants in the Islamic Republic.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iran National Library and Archives (INLA) Director Ali-Akbar Ash’ari held talks with the director of Turkey’s state archives Yusuf Sarinay in a meeting in Istanbul on Tuesday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Ankara on Wednesday that Russia and Turkey share close stances on such international issues as Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, Iraq and the Middle East.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Former Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani said the world is focusing on the upcoming parliamentary elections to view the people’s turnout.

TEHRAN (FNA) – The UAE’s Crescent Petroleum said on Wednesday that it had made progress on talks to resolve a dispute about pricing and volume for gas imports from Iran but had yet to reach a final agreement.