Brent crude oil slipped further below $68 a barrel on Friday after tension eased between the European Union and Iran over the OPEC member’s nuclear program.

Visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari on Thursday underlined here importance of the upcoming neighboring states’ meeting on Iraq due to be held in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on May 3-4.

Tehran’s Interim Friday Prayers leader Seyyed Ahmad Khatami warned the West that Iran’s nuclear issue would not be resolved through bullying and mischief, and further stressed the need for prerequisite-free talks as the only way to solve the case.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki stressed expansion and broadening of relations between Tehran and New Delhi in all the various areas.

The Iranian delegation which attended the 11th East-West Economic Cooperation Summit in China endorsed 4 cooperation agreements.

Director General of Iran’s plenipotentiary trade office said Iran’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a long-term process and that agreement of the US or EU does not accelerate the process.

Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari met with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul to iron out “some misunderstandings” between Baghdad and Ankara over Iraq’s objection to holding a key regional summit in Istanbul.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said on Thursday Iran had not yet decided whether to attend a meeting in Egypt next week to discuss how to end Iraq’s sectarian violence.

Unicef – Afghanistan continues its efforts to eradicate polio in the country. In a nation-wide campaign held from 22-24 April 2007, nearly 7.3 million children were vaccinated, bringing the country – and the world – one step closer to polio eradication. Afghanistan is one of just four remaining polio-endemic countries …

By Dario Cristiani, The Power and Interest News Report (PINR) The United States recently accused Iran of increasing its influence in Afghanistan. General Peter Pace, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that “in the last month, we have intercepted in Afghanistan weapons that were made in …