Middle Orient

TEHRAN (FNA) The return of the Iranian nuclear dossier to the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, would be a major step towards settling the dispute, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said.

TEHRAN (FNA) Several of Iran’s political heavyweights, including ex-nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, are among more than 7,000 hopefuls who have signed up to stand in March parliamentary elections, officials said on Saturday.

TEHRAN (FNA) An Iranian official said on Saturday that Iran would not resume gas deliveries to Turkey early next week if it cannot meet domestic demand, after Ankara said it would happen by Monday at the latest.

TEHRAN (FNA) Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei demanded an end to UN Security Council oversight of Iran’s nuclear program during a meeting with the International Atomic Energy Agency Director Genera, Mohamed ElBaradei here in Tehran on Saturday.

GAZA – Palestinian gunmen stormed the American International School in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Saturday, smashing windows, seizing computers and torching buses but causing no injuries, security sources said.

AMMAN – Iraq hopes to conclude by July a pact with the United States that lays the basis for long-term strategic ties between the two countries and defines the legal status of U.S. troops, Iraq’s foreign minister said on Saturday.

BAGHDAD – Iraq’s parliament passed a law on Saturday to ease restrictions on mostly Sunni Arab members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party returning to public life, one of the main political benchmarks set by the United States.

TEHRAN (FNA) UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei expressed the hope that continued cooperation between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency would lead to the normalization of Iran’s nuclear issue by the next meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in March.

TEHRAN (FNA) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the International Atomic Energy Agency not to be influenced by the great powers and to fulfill its duties on the basis of legal criteria.

TEHRAN (FNA) Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission is decisive to increase the country’s defense budget, a commission member said here on Saturday.