Energy minister here Sunday voiced Iran’s readiness to cooperate with Asia-Pacific countries in water and energy sectors.Parviz Fattah made the statement ahead of his departure to Deppu, Oita prefecture, Japan, where he attends the First Asia-Pacific Summit.

Iran‘s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki stressed that there has been no legal basis for referral of Iran’s nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council. 

Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili reiterated Friday that Iran will always maintain its principled stance regarding the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and continues to support cooperation over the country’s nuclear programme. 

In a historic ceremony Saturday, President Berdymuhamedov of Turkmenistan used a gold-plated spanner to bolt together two sections of rails, marking the formal start of construction of railway link between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.   

The Afghan ministry of defence has announced plans to treble the size of its army. The ministry said this was to dissuade Afghanistan’s neighbours, Iran and Pakistan, from interfering, as well as to provide better internal security.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Turnout in Russia’s parliamentary election is likely to be more than 60 percent, higher than last time, the electoral commission said on Sunday.

MOROZOVKA, Russia (Reuters) – Voters looked on in amazement when a group of Russia’s most beautiful women turned up to cast their votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A handful of foreign election observers scrambled to monitor voting across Russia’s vast territory on Sunday, with the chief of one mission admitting there was little his team could do.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday played down expectations for a peace deal with the Palestinians before the end of 2008 as laid out at a U.S.-sponsored peace conference last week.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Former world chess champion and opposition leader Garry Kasparov accused Russian authorities of “raping the whole electoral system” with numerous instances of irregularities in Sunday’s parliamentary election.