An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale jolted the town of Aradan in Iran’s northern province of Semnan Monday night.

National Iranian Central Oil Company (NICOC) Managing Director Alireza Zeighami yesterday announced that the development of 18 new oil and gas fields would be put out to international tender in the first phase.

Iran said on Tuesday it has agreed to a new round of talks with United States on improving security in Iraq.