Middle Orient

Israeli and Palestinian presidents Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday hailed an upcoming Middle East peace conference as an historic opportunity while warning that failure could spell fresh trouble for the region.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Tuesday launched a fresh bid to break a political impasse in Lebanon that is threatening to derail the election of a president by a November 23 deadline.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has sent messages to Syrian President Bashar Assad that he is interested in reopening peace talks and suggested Israel would return territory it captured 40 years ago, Israeli officials said Tuesday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here Wednesday said that his country has started uranium enrichment at an industrial scale since the beginning of the current Iranian year, (started March 21).

A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei is likely to be released Wednesday afternoon.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is scheduled to pay a several-hour visit to Tehran following his attendance in the upcoming summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia early next week.

174 Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly gave vote of confidence to the President’s nominee and elected Ali Akbar Mehrabian as Industries and Mines Minister.

217 Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly gave vote of confidence to the President’s nominee and elected Gholam Hossein Nozari as Oil Minister.

Italy’s ENI will continue to do business in Iran amid US pressure for companies to cut investment in the country, ENI’s chief executive said in an interview published Wednesday.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Tuesday that the visit of IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to Iran is on the agenda but the exact time would be announced after mutual confirmation.