There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity involving Tehran, Baghdad, Ankara and Washington to defuse tensions along the border between Turkey and northern Iraq.

Iran welcomed a recent Arab proposal to set up a consortium to provide Mideast countries with enriched uranium but said it would not halt its own enrichment activities

China urged Iran Saturday to further cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and create favorable conditions for further talks on the nuclear issue.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated on Saturday that his country’s nuclear issue is already closed.

The United States Sunday praised the Iraqi government for helping to secure the release of eight Turkish soldiers abducted by Kurdish rebels two weeks ago during a battle that heightened tensions along the Iraq-Turkey border.

Participants of an international conference discussing Iraq in Ä°stanbul condemned terrorism and said Iraqi territory should not be used for terrorist attacks on other countries.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan suggested yesterday that Turkey might impose economic sanctions to force Iraqi Kurds to crack down on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — which has bases in Iraq’s Kurdish-run north — saying Turkey’s developing economy is a part of its political and diplomatic might.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – When it comes to his views on Canada’s presence in Afghanistan, it’s like father like son for the new mullah in the Arghandab district north of Kandahar city.

Iraq’s neighbors and other Arab countries gathered Saturday to discuss the future of the war-torn country — but the crisis involving Kurdish separatist rebels along the border between Iraq and Turkey threatened to overshadow the event.

Iran would be ready to join a body that would provide enriched uranium for users in the Middle East, an Iranian official said, after Saudi Arabia proposed it as a way to defuse Tehran’s nuclear row with the West, Reuters repoted.