TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Due to the growingly cold weather sweeping entire Iran and the subsequent increase in local consumption, gas exports to Turkey came to a halt, Oil Minister Seyed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said here on Wednesday.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar stressed that Iran will not give in to the pressures exerted by the world powers.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed in Abadan on Tuesday that his country may not give up even an iota of its nuclear rights.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- First Vice President Parviz Davoudi in a meeting with the outgoing Lebanese Ambassador to Tehran Adnan Mansour here on Tuesday stressed Iran’s support for any plan contributing to the establishment of stability, tranquility and unity among the Lebanese groups.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian parliament has defied government opposition to pass a bill that would raise the minimum voting age in legislative and presidential elections from 15 to 18.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini stressed the Iranian government’s resolve to defend the country’s nuclear rights within the framework of international rules and regulations.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in a meeting with Senegal’s outgoing ambassador to Tehran here on Tuesday, stressed that consolidation of Tehran-Dakar ties is no threat to any other world country.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini here on Tuesday extended his condolences to the Indonesian people and government as well as the bereaved families of the victims of a jetliner crash incident in that country.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Thousands of Sunni Arabs vented their anger on Tuesday over Saddam Hussein’s execution as the Iraqi government promised an investigation into illicitly filmed footage of Shiite officials taunting him on the gallows.

BAGHDAD — US-led forces are likely to launch a limited new year offensive against Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr’s Mehdi Army, blamed for sectarian death squad killings, senior Iraqi officials say.