Middle Orient

TEHRAN (FNA) A spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency Wednesday said that the UN nuclear watchdog chief, Mohamed ElBaradei is hopeful about resolving all issues remaining between Iran and IAEA during his upcoming visit to Tehran.

TEHRAN (FNA) Iran’s defense minister dismissed White House claims about a hostile confrontation between Iranian and US navy vessels in the Persian Gulf, describing US allegations as a plot to make regional and world countries fearful of Iran.

TEHRAN (FNA) Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Sheikh Attar said that an upcoming visit to Tehran by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei will be aimed at resolving the issues remaining between the two sides.

TEHRAN (FNA) Iran’s Embassy in Baku said that the incident which took place with the US military ship in Persian Gulf was nothing “extraordinary”, and dismissed Washington’s allegations about the incident.

TEHRAN (FNA) Edison SpA, Italy’s second biggest power generator, has won a bid to explore for oil and gas in Iran.

TEHRAN (FNA) Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Noqrekar Shirazi and Managing Director of Syrian Gas company Ali Abbas signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday for export of Iran’s gas o Syria by the end of 2009, it was announced on Tuesday.

TEHRAN (FNA) National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) and the Italian company Edison will sign a contract on the exploration and development of Dayyer Block here today.

TEHRAN (FNA) Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan will ask Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to restore the flow of natural gas to Turkey after it was cut off this week, he was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

GENEVA – About 151,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the three years following the U.S.-led invasion of their country, according to World Health Organization (WHO) research published on Wednesday.

BAGHDAD – Six U.S. soldiers were killed on Wednesday when a house rigged with explosives blew up north of Baghdad during a new U.S.-Iraqi offensive targeting al Qaeda guerrillas in Iraq, the U.S. military said.