Militants have battled security forces in several parts of the northwest in recent weeks and briefly seized a main road tunnel 50 km (30 miles) from Peshawar city in late January.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel said there resides no major impediment to the resumption of ties between Iran and Egypt, adding that Tehran and Cairo are determined to boost mutual cooperation.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, senior advisor to the Iranian president, Saturday dismissed reports about a meeting between Iranian and US officials on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.