Middle Orient

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.

TEHRAN (FNA) – The United Arab Emirates’ Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Parviz Davoudi here in Tehran on Monday reiterated the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Head of the International Paralympics Committee said that he would soon extend an official invitation to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to attend the inauguration ceremony of the 2008 competitions in Beijing.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs Fahd bin Mahmud al-Said is due to pay a visit to Iran in the near future, Tehran’s ambassador to Masqat said here on Monday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Oil Ministry Sunday announced the launch of operation by the country’s first oil products bourse in the free trade zone on the Persian Gulf Island of Kish.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Economy Minister Davoud Danesh Jafari downplayed a secret meeting last month between US and Iranian banking officials, calling it “an exchange of views” over the Islamic nation’s new money laundering law.