Middle Orient

Iran appears to be pushing ahead with its third major liquefied natural gas project, known as Iran LNG, with the assistance of European companies.

Iran on Thursday said it has arrested more suspects in a nuclear espionage case, a day after a former nuclear official was accused of handing over atomic secrets to Britain.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Friday it was too early to say what action OPEC might take when it meets in early December, leaving the door open for a possible production rise to cool prices.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to pay a daylong visit to Bahrain prior to his participation in the upcoming summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is due to leave Tehran for Riyadh on Friday to take the introductory steps for the participation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the upcoming OPEC heads of state summit in Saudi Arabia next week.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei is likely to present his report on Iran’s latest cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog agency on Thursday.

Iran has the right to a peaceful nuclear energy program and is not seeking atomic weapons, China said on Thursday, while urging talks to resolve the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programs.

An executive at the Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced that Iraq and Iran have inked an agreement to build two networks, one of which will deliver oil byproducts from Iran to the southern Iraqi port of Basra.

Iran and Sri Lanka Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote their tourism relations.

China believes Iran has the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy but supports nuclear non-proliferation efforts, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said.