Turkey and Iraq have agreed to sign a counterterrorism deal cracking down on separatist Kurdish rebels holed up in bases in northern Iraq, officials said Wednesday.    

Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Tuesday that Iran’s disputed nuclear program is “closed” as a political issue and said Tehran will ignore U.N. Security Council demands and sanctions imposed by “arrogant powers” to curb its nuclear program.

  With the governments in Turkey and Greece receiving new mandates in elections the two countries agreed in New York over the weekend to “further enhance” their relations.

Western banks withdrawing from Iran would not be welcome back, the Islamic Republic’s central bank governor warned on Tuesday, calling their behavior unprofessional and immoral.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the UN General Assembly Tuesday that his nuclear standoff with the West was a “closed” matter.

Seven chancellors and presidents of Iranian universities and research centers, in a letter addressed to their counterpart in the US Colombia University, denounced Lee Bollinger’s insulting words against the Iranian nation and president and invited him to provide responses for 10 questions of the Iranian academicians and intellectuals.

Proposed by foreign minister and approved by the president, Ibrahim Rahimpour was appointed as Iran’s ambassador to Ireland.

Following the arrest of an Iranian business official and lack of efforts to release him within the specified deadline, all economic and trade relations with the Iraqi Kurdistan have been cut, an Iranian official in the border province of Kermanshah said.

Commander of the Iranian army underlined his country’s military might, and said his troops will show Iran’s power in practice whenever and wherever necessary.

Foreign Minister of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg voiced his country’s preparedness to develop ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran.