Iran on Thursday successfully tested two more domestically-built fighter jets from its Azarakhsh (Lightning) generation and the new planes, named Saeqeh (Thunderbolt), will be displayed to the public during a military parade on National Army Day on Saturday.

Iran has condemned the murder of a lawmaker and five others in a Lebanon car bombing, saying the blast was aimed at causing instability ahead of a crucial presidential vote.

Iran has released Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American arrested on charges of harming national security earlier this year.

Iran is testing Western intentions by working with the UN atomic watchdog to resolve a nuclear row but the opportunity for such cooperation may not be repeated, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday.

French oil group Total is still in discussions with Iranian partners on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project for gas extracted from the South Pars field, but added political issues could cause problems for the company.

Iran’s government withdrew 42.054 trillion rials ($4.7 billion) from the Oil Stabilization Fund (OSF) in the first four months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance reported here on Wednesday.

Iran’s first 40,000-ton wheat cargo was exported to Oman via southern Imam Khomeini Port on Wednesday in the presence of Minister of Commerce Massud Mirkazemi.

KABUL (AFP) – Dozens of Taliban militants have been killed in heavy fighting in southern and western Afghanistan, officials said Thursday, as the Al-Qaeda-backed insurgency showed no signs of abating.n volatile southern Uruzgan province, at least 36 insurgents were killed Wednesday in a fierce clash with Afghan and US-led coalition …

    Turkey’s devout Muslim prime minister said Wednesday that the constitution should be changed to remove a ban at universities on head scarves, the most potent symbol of the national divide over the role of religion in politics.     

 ISLAMABAD — Now that President Pervez Musharraf has reaffirmed intention to step down as army chief after eight years, the identity of his replacement at the helm of the powerful nuclear-armed army is leaving every body guessing. “Loyalty will possibly be the key factor but General Musharraf may spring a …