Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki described the recent statements made by US President George W. Bush about Iran as irrational, and said the remarks indicated his lack of rationality and decision-making power as well as political paralysis.

Iran’s permanent envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali Asghar Soltanieh said that the recent report presented by the UN nuclear watchdog head Mohammed ElBaradei to the IAEA Board of Governors endorsed the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities.

Given its present trend of construction, the Islamic Iran will set an example for other world nations, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday.

Iran is gaining influence in Latin America as the region turns away from Washington and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad courts new allies to counter US hegemony.

Iran says it will make a formal protest to Iraq on Wednesday over the apparent arrest and detention of seven of its nationals by US troops in Baghdad.

Iran summoned the Swiss diplomat who represents US affairs to its Foreign Ministry to protest the detentions of eight Iranian delegates in Baghdad.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wednesday extended his congratulations to Abdullah Gul and the Turkish nation and government on his election as the country’s president.

Iran’s revenues from oil exports stood at $51 bln in the year to March 2007, showing a 17-percent increase from the figure for the preceding year.

Iran’s ambassador designate to Bahrain has warned against the presence of non-Persian Gulf armies in the region, saying that they were destabilizing it.

Iran is determined to export gas to the United Arab Emirates and has formed a committee to help overcome a pricing dispute that has delayed the project since 2006, an Iranian official was quoted as saying on yesterday.