KABUL (Reuters) - Al Qaeda fighters have crossed from Afghanistan into Iran but Tehran is not allowing the United States access to those it has detained, U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said on Friday. ... more

The deputy for the Foundation for the Martyrs of the Revolution said: The government owes the families of the martyrs 200million tomans and this sum remains unpaid to date. ... more

In the aftermath of the discovery of secret arms shipments from the Islamic republic to terrorist organisations and following warnings from the President of the United States and the British Prime Minister to halt its anti-democratic activities in Afghanistan, today Hashemi Rafsanjani said in Tehran: "America and the West are flexing their military muscle by sending its forces to the area." ... more

BEIRUT, LEBANON - Three years ago, Iran described Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as a "traitor" to the cause of Palestine. The head of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hizbullah organization has called Mr. Arafat a "disgrace to Palestine, Arabism, and Islam" and urged the Palestinian people to kill him. ... more

WASHINGTON One of the world's most wanted men, charged with the terrorist hijacking of a TWA jetliner in 1985, has been operating for years with the protection and backing of the Iranian intelligence services, according to CIA documents. ... more

Reports are stating that the Islamic republic's Plainclothes men have arrested several demonstrators who were shouting slogans hostile to the regime. At least, 18 demonstrators, including teachers, were seen caught while they were walking out of the demonstration and brought in rush to cars that were leaving the scene. ... more

Iran proved a surprisingly useful ally in the US's anti-terror campaign. The virulent anti-US rhetoric of the Islamic republic disguised a more co-operative attitude in the war against the Taliban, a movement Tehran had long opposed. Iran agreed to allow the use of its territory for search and rescue missions of US troops. It played a constructive part in the Bonn talks that established an interim Afghan administration. ... more

Iranian film director and producer Majid Majidi first visited the town of Mirjaveh, eight miles west of the Afghan border, in 1991. The searing images of destitute refugees were unforgettable. ... more

Abu Dhabi The joint venture of Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Co (NPCC) and Iran's Naft Sazeh Qeshm (NSQ) has signed a contract with Shell Exploration BV for the construction of facilities for use in the development of Iran's Soroosh/Nowrooz oil fields, official sources said. ... more

ISLAMABAD, Jan 18 Asia Pulse - Pakistan said it has no objection to the proposed Iran-India gas pipeline project which is will pass through the country. "We are committed to giving them transit and ensuring security of the proposed pipeline," Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Usman Aminuddin said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad. ... more

Saudi Arabia's rulers are increasingly uncomfortable with the U.S. military presence in their country and may soon ask that it end, according to several Saudi sources. Such a decision would deprive the United States of regular use of the Prince Sultan Air Base, from which American power has been projected into the gulf region and beyond for more than a decade. ... more

Paid $10 million to Iran for arms destined for Palestinian intifada The financing of the Karine-A arms-smuggling ship destined for the Gaza Strip came from Saudi Arabia - a shocking discovery made, according to intelligence sources, by all three teams investigating the affair: American, Israeli and Palestinian. ... more

Iran is being added into the terrorism equation which adds to Turkey's woes but also increases its importance in the eyes of Washington Did anyone expect anything negative to come out of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's meetings in Washington? If they did then they must be mad. ... more

One hundred days after the US began its military campaign against al-Qaida and Taliban targets in Afghanistan, George Bush's "war on terrorism" is in danger of losing direction. ... more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (AP) - The United States urged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to hunt down those responsible for supporting a gunman who killed six people Thursday at a Jewish confirmation ceremony in northern Israel. ... more

WASHINGTON (AP)--The United States urged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to hunt down those responsible for supporting a gunman who killed six people at a Jewish confirmation ceremony in Israel. ... more

If Yasser Arafat is struck down with the Pinocchio disease, the cartoonists won't be able to fit his nose into their caricatures. The chairman's "shock" at the discovery of that enormous arms shipment from Iran, destined for Palestinian terrorists, recalls the shock of Claude Raines "discovering" gambling in the back room at Rick's Cafe in "Casablanca." ... more

The war in Afghanistan has been a success, but it was just a first step. Now that Afghanistan has been rid of its terrorist bases, it is time to face up to the question: Who exactly is our enemy? ... more

The international community has high expectations for Japanese assistance to rebuild Afghanistan, and Japan needs to make an "appropriate" pledge at next week's conference in Tokyo to this end, Sadako Ogata said Thursday. ... more