Middle Orient

TEHRAN (FNA) – In a meeting with a journalist from Japan’s Tokyo Shimbun daily, Iran’s vice-president in charge of tourism has invited Japanese tourists to visit Iran.

TEHRAN (FNA) – The international community must increase its diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview aired Monday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iran has begun importing 1 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from Azerbaijan, in an apparent move to help compensate for shortages caused by a cut in Turkmen deliveries.

TEHRAN (FNA) – An Iraqi delegation arrived in Iran on Monday to discuss the Algiers agreement which defines their common border.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iran has started pumping oil from its biggest onshore oilfield of Azadegan in the southwest of the country, a project that was originally to be developed with a Japanese partner.

DUBAI – Iraq is inching toward attracting the billions of dollars needed to revamp its oil sector but international oil companies are still not ready to commit the massive sums required.

Iraq currently produces only a fraction of its vast reserves, the third-largest in the world and among the cheapest to produce, and international oil firms have been positioning for years to gain access.

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has not agreed to postpone talks on the future of Jerusalem, a senior adviser said on Monday, disputing comments by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

TEHRAN – The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday Israel would soon be destroyed by the “hands of Hezbollah”, the Lebanese group which is backed by the Islamic Republic, Fars News Agency reported.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and visiting UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum discussed bilateral ties, regional developments and other issues of mutual interest in a meeting here on Monday.