KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — A toddler died when she was struck by a gunshot from a NATO soldier while troops killed four dozen Taliban in two days of battles in Afghanistan’s top opium-growing area, officials said Saturday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to leave Tehran on Monday to pay a two-day visit to Armenia at the head of a high-ranking delegation.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday assigned Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Saeed Jalili as Secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).

Managing director of Iran’s Bourse Company said that Iranian and Chinese stock exchange markets are due to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual cooperation in the near future.

A 30-member delegation from Iranian traders and industry owners is scheduled to leave Tehran for Moscow Monday morning to explore new grounds for the two countries’ joint economic activities a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a groundbreaking visit to Tehran.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister plans to raise a proposal at the next meeting of the group of 8 developing Muslim countries (D-8) for the joint manufacture of cars by the D-8 member states.

The World Bank (WB) in its latest report on Iran’s agricultural status confessed that it has not provided due financial support for the Islamic Republic’s development programs in recent years, particularly in the agriculture sector.

Tehran said that it would send former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and deputy foreign minister Saeed Jalili to Rome on Tuesday to meet with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in a next round of talks aimed at resolving Tehran-West nuclear standoff.

A British company has joined the well-known highway construction project which is due to link Tehran to the northern parts of the country.

Iran, OPEC’s number-two exporter, hit out at the recent hike in oil prices, saying real prices were far lower than the 90-dollar-a-barrel level of last week.