Iran

Source : Nasser Karimi | AP
TEHRAN | 23 Aug 2011

Iran’s president claimed on Tuesday the country’s military can cripple enemies on their own ground as Tehran put a new Iranian-made cruise missile on display, the latest addition to the nation’s growing arsenal.

The state TV reported that the new missile, showcased at a ceremony in Tehran, is designed for sea-based targets, with a range of 124 miles (200 kilometers) and is capable of destroying a warship. The TV said it can travel at low altitudes and has a lighter weight and smaller dimensions.

Source : Reuters
TEHRAN | 14 Aug 2011

Some 200 students held a demonstration outside the British embassy in Tehran on Sunday to protest at what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the “savage” police treatment of people involved in street unrest in London last week.

Watched by around 50 riot police, some students threw eggs toward the embassy compound and at the end of the protest they held up masks of Mark Duggan, the man whose shooting by police sparked the protests and riots in Britain.

Source : Xinhuanet
Tehran | 11 Aug 2011

A senior Iranian lawmaker said that Iran may shut down the British embassy in Tehran, local satellite Press TV reported on Wednesday.

Iran's Majlis (parliament) will seriously pursue the issue of shutting down the UK embassy in Tehran in case the "violent crackdown on British citizens" continue, said Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash, a member of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's Majlis.

Source : The Guardian
TEHRAN | 10 Aug 2011

Iran has called on the British government to "restrain" the police and stop the "violent treatment" of rioters.

The foreign ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, said dialogue would calm the situation, and urged the UK to respond to the demands of the "protesters". He also asked human rights organisations to investigate the death of Mark Duggan, which led to the riots.

Source : Reuters
TEHRAN | 20 Jul 2011

Iran has shot down an unmanned US spy plane over its Fordu nuclear site, a state-run website reported on Wednesday, a day after it confirmed it was installing a new generation of advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges.

“An unmanned US spy plane flying over the holy city of Qom near the uranium enrichment Fordu site was shot down by the Revolutionary Guards’ air defense units,” MP Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari was quoted as saying by the Youth Journalists Club, affiliated to Iran’s state TV.

Source : Tehran Times
TEHRAN | 18 Jul 2011

Two Iranian movies grabbed major awards at the St. Petersburg International Film Festival Kinoforum that ran from July 10 to 15.

Asghar Farhadi’s Golden Bear winner “Nader and Simin: A Separation” was awarded the Grand Prix of the festival, while “Gesher” by Vahid Vakilifar grabbed Choice of the Jury special award, the Persian service of IRNA reported on Sunday.

Source : Associated Press
Buenos Aires | 18 Jul 2011

The Argentinian government has described as "very positive" an Iranian offer to co-operate with an inquiry into the South American country's deadliest terrorist attack.

Argentinians have long suspected high-level Iranian diplomats were involved in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Source : AP
TEHRAN | 16 Jul 2011

Iran’s state TV says the country’s supreme leader has told Pakistan’s president that the United States is Pakistan’s real enemy.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke Saturday during a meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. It was Zardari’s second visit to Iran in less than a month.

Khamenei has the final say on all state matters in Iran.

The US-Pakistan relationship has been on a downward spiral since the May 2 US raid that killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town.

Source : Xinhuanet
Tehran | 12 Jul 2011

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi opened the Islamic republic's first embassy in Ljubljana on Monday and said that his country is willing to develop ties with Slovenia.

Hours after his arrival in Slovenia, Salehi inaugurated the Iranian embassy in Ljubljana and said that Iran is keen on enhanced trade and cultural ties with Slovenia, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Source : Reuters
Baghdad | 07 Jul 2011

Iran aims to boost trade and investment with neighbouring Iraq to $10 billion this year as it looks to further strengthen economic ties, especially in the oil sector, an Iranian official said on Wednesday.

"The big Iranian companies have the ability to engage in trading and investment in Iraq in oil, gas, petrochemicals, agriculture, heavy industries, electricity and religious tourism," said Hassan Kazemi Qomi, head of the Iraq-Iran economic development committee and Iran's former ambassador to Iraq.