Equipment and weaponry of the 15 British marines were not returned to London, an informed source said here on Wednesday.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said his country’s powerful, efficient and well-equipped army is fully prepared to defend Iran while it merely seeks to reinvigorate sustainable peace, stability and security in the region.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said those whose histories are filled with aggressions, oppressions and cruelties are indicting Iran for aggression and belligerency.

President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Ezzatollah Zarqami, in a meeting with Armenian Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosian, voiced Tehran’s preparedness to launch joint cultural cooperation with Yerevan.

Iran’s First Vice-President Parviz Dawoodi said that the pressures exerted by the US and certain countries on foreign investors to prevent them from investing their capitals in Iran have all proved unfruitful.

If Mr. Bush has any power, he’d better spend it on the establishment of security and freedom inside his country, Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel said pointing to the recent manslaughter at Virginia Tech University.

Islamic Republic army started a public display of the drones it has specifically designed for electronic warfare during a ceremony held at the mausoleum of the Founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Imam Khomeini, in southern Tehran on Wednesday to mark the ‘Army Day’.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country’s army serves regional peace and security while defending the security and territorial integrity of Iran.

A delegation of administrative officials from Iraq attended a meeting with officials of Iran’s Arvand Free Zone to discuss facilitation of possible grounds for investment of Iraqi traders in the said region.

Iran says the French oil giant, Total, will make its final decision on investment in Iran’s “Pars LNG” project in the next few months.