Several British firms are in the running for multiple contracts, valued at £17.15 million, coming up from the development of a coal mine in Iran. Iran has emerged as the fastest growing market for the UK in the Middle East and North Africa, with a 53 per cent increase in exports between January and November last year. ... more

Tehran, March 15, IRNA -- Iran is never after a war, but it will strongly defend the country's honor, dignity and identity if attacked by warmongers, announced Deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr in Iran's northwestern city of Tabriz on Thursday. ... more

Tehran, March 14, IRNA -- Head of Iran's International Center for Dialogue Among Civilizations Ataollah Mohajerani said here Wednesday that the issue of dialogue among Iran and US intellectuals is not anything new and such dialogue has been going on in the past and is to continue in future. ... more

ATHENS, Greece -- Any use of nuclear weapons could set off a global conflict that would threaten to destroy all humanity, Iran's president has warned. Mohammad Khatami has used his five-day European trip as a forum to hit out at U.S. President George W. Bush, who has called Iran part of an "axis of evil" along with North Korea and Iraq. ... more

VIENNA, Austria -- OPEC's current level of crude production is sufficient to meet demand, Iran's oil minister said Thursday, even as market fears about possible U.S. military action against Iraq was pushing crude prices higher. ... more

Vienna, 14 March: Oil Minister Bizhan Namdar-Zanganeh said here Thursday [14 March] that the OPEC members' cooperation in controlling output and abiding by production quotas has been positive. ... more

TEHRAN - The United States and Iran are engaged in direct contacts in an effort to resolve regional problems, a senior Iranian politician was quoted as saying on Thursday. ... more

The first service of the Trans-Asian railway between Kazakhstan and Iran departed Almaty Thursday in the first stage of its 68-hour journey. The train will snake its way through 1,865 miles and four countries -- Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran -- before reaching its destination, Tehran. The train -- with three sleeping cars, a dining car and a baggage car -- will have its wheels changed en route to Iran, which uses a narrow gauge railway line, the Kazakh Khabar news agency reported. ... more

TEHRAN: Iranian liberal Reza Rais-Toussi, a dissident close to the outlawed Iran Freedom Movement (IFM), has been freed on bail, Tossee newspaper reported on Thursday. It said Rais-Toussi who was arrested with around 60 others close to IFM in March 2001, was released late Wednesday on bail of $125,000. ... more

WASHINGTON - (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee made a dramatic overture on Wednesday to ``axis of evil'' state Iran, offering to meet Iranian parliamentarians in Washington or elsewhere and urging other conciliatory steps. ... more

ATHENS, Greece –– Iran's president appealed Thursday for world leaders to use the "power of dialogue" to prevent religious and cultural differences from turning into conflict. Mohammad Khatami steered clear of direct references to Middle East violence or Iran's unrelenting tensions with Washington. He urged policy-makers to learn from the wisdom of ancient philosophers and the mistakes of past wars. ... more

TEHRAN, March 13 Asia Pulse - Highlights of today's newspapers: Iran's President Mohammad Khatami on Tuesday expressed concern at reports that the US military had been directed to prepare contingency plans for the use of nuclear weapons against seven countries, including Iran. ... more

UNITED NATIONS - "I was surprised," Kofi Annan said, in response to a question about President George W. Bush's inclusion of Iran among the infamous axis of evil nations placed on notice, in the State of the Union address, to watch out, or risk getting a taste of what the US did to the Taliban. ... more

Any agreement or disagreement between Europe and America and its effect on Iran's foreign policy has become topical with [president Mohammad] Khatami's visit to Austria [11-13 March]. News of a disagreement between Britain and America about how to deal with Iran or the frank remarks made by [the head of the EU's common foreign and security policy, Javier] Solana ... ... more

Athens, March 14, IRNA -- President Mohammad Khatami visited the historical Acropolis complex in the Greek capital city of Athens, on the second day of his visit to Greece on Thursday. ... more

TEHRAN A 73-year-old former journalist has gone on trial behind closed doors, charged with espionage and threatening national security in what is considered part of a new current of repression against intellectuals in Iran. ... more

Dear Editor,
As a journalist writer facing the death penalty in Iran, where the regime tries to stand on its feet with brutality, torture and pressure, I hope to reach U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the solution of my problems via your newspaper. ... more

New Delhi, March 15, IRNA -- Iranian chess player, Ehsan Qaem-Maqami, who was unbeaten on seven points was overwhelmed by Russian grand master G.M.Andrey Shariyazdanov (7.5 points) in Raipur in Central Indian State of Chattisgarh. ... more

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Arab gunmen who infiltrated from Lebanon carried out Tuesday's attack near a border kibbutz in which five Israeli civilians and a soldier were killed, the Israeli army said on Thursday. Brigadier Meir Kalifi, an Israeli northern division commander, did not identify the gunmen in his briefing to reporters. But Israeli military sources said they were guerrillas from the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hizbollah movement. ... more

Surprise! North Korea may already be a nuclear-weapon state. When you testify to Congress in measured tones, what you say doesn't always get the attention it deserves. That's the lesson from Robert Walpole's March 11th testimony before a Senate subcommittee. Walpole is the National Intelligence Officer for Strategic and Nuclear Programs for the CIA and was there to update senators on the National Intelligence Estimate. ... more

In the Kurdish north, a new Islamist group with ties to Al Qaeda has killed women without burqas, seized villages. ... more

Sometimes I think I'm pretty smart. I admit it. I think I know a lot about a lot of things, especially the media, and am therefore a good choice to host a program like Fox News Watch and write a column like this one for Foxnews.com. Other times, I can't quite figure out what I'm doing here. This is one of the latter occasions. ... more

Yerevan, 14 March: Armenia and Iran have age-old neighbourly relations that translate into developing trade and economic cooperation, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said when asked about relations with Iran in an interview to the France-Presse news agency. ... more