In a move set to further strain tensions with the West, deputies in Russia’s Duma have backed Georgian separatists’ battle for independence.

Russia is continuing to frustrate the West over its pullout from Georgia, and is yet to respond to calls for an urgent summit planned for next week. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy brokered the deal which ended the fighting, but Moscow’s delays have annoyed many governments. Critics are particularly alarmed by …

Hours before the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to arrive, Israel freed dozens of Palestinian prisoners in a gesture aimed at boosting Middle East peace. The group of 198 included the longest-serving prisonner held by Israel. Said al-Atabeh was arrested in 1977 and jailed for life for …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Israel will be targeted by thousands of rockets if it attacks Iran, a senior official in the Lebanese Hezbollah group said on Sunday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran is likely to cut crude exports to some global buyers in a bid to increase sales to China and India, an Iranian oil official said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei urged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to plan on keeping the top job for a second four-year term but called on him to keep better control of inflation.

TEHRAN (FNA)- An Iranian lawmaker blamed big powers for provoking the Persian Gulf Arab states to use rude literature against Iran.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has begun designing its second light-water nuclear power plant, a 360-megawatt facility in the southwest.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s central bank has begun issuing its own high-denomination paper notes to replace the certified checks issued by private banks which will now be banned.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The crash of a passenger jet outside Kyrgyzstan’s main airport which killed 66 people is being blamed on technical issues.