Iranian deputy commerce minister said that the total volume of Iran’s trade exchanges with the Arab countries of the Middle-East amounted to $16 bln during the last (Iranian) year.

Iranian government allowed Ministry of Road and Transportation to endorse a temporary agreement with Tajikistan on transportation of goods and passengers via the roads linking the two Persian-language-speaking countries.

Chairman of Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaoddin Boroujerdi said the upcoming visit to Iran by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki could be followed by great achievements.

 A long-awaited agreement on Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project would be reached in the next two to three months, Iranian Ambassador to India Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh said.

Iran and the US held “frank and serious” security talks chaired by Iraq as they inaugurated a joint security committee aimed at curbing the country’s rampant insurgency.

SEOUL, South Korea – North and South Korea announced Wednesday that their leaders will hold their second-ever summit this month, reprising the historic 2000 meeting that launched unprecedented reconciliation between the two longtime foes.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Under pressure from close ally South Korea to help free 21 South Korean hostages being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan, Washington is treading delicately, seeing few viable choices to force an acceptable solution, analysts say.

KABUL (AFP) – Defence Secretary Des Browne arrived in troubled southern Afghanistan Tuesday for a two day visit, a British military spokesman said. Browne travelled directly to the British military base near Gereshk district in the Taliban stronghold of Helmand province to meet soldiers stationed there, said a defence ministry …

KABUL (AFP) – Fresh battles in insurgency-plagued Afghanistan Tuesday left 35 Taliban fighters and six policemen dead, officials said. US-led coalition forces killed more than 20 militants when they repelled a rare frontal attack on a US military base, the coalition said in a statement. Afghan army and coalition forces …

CAMP DAVID — Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President George W Bush agreed that Pakistan must help quell deadly violence inside Afghanistan, but broke sharply on Iran’s influence there.