Iran agreed in talks with the United States and other major powers to open its newly revealed uranium enrichment plant near Qom to international inspection in the next two weeks and to send most of its openly declared enriched uranium to Russia to be turned into fuel for a small reactor that produces medical isotopes, senior American and other Western officials said.

Federal Minister for Health Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani on Tuesday called upon Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan to evolve joint strategies to stem the spread of malaria in the region.

Traders today heaved a sigh of relief with the Iranian Hygiene Ministry giving a clean chit to Indian basmati but Punjab and Haryana farmers, who have banked heavily on this variety by doubling the area under it, may suffer badly this season with the prices of the popular 1121 variety expected to come down steeply.

Iranian Media Questions Quality Of Imported Rice; Exporters Urge Govt To Take Steps

BASMATI exporters, who recently won a battle against the government over reduction of the minimum export price to $900/tonne from $1,100/tonne, are facing fresh trouble.

Iran will start laying the pipeline for gas supply in Pakistan next year, sources said on Monday.

The decision was made on Monday, the first day of three-day talks between officials of the two countries.

The mobile phone company Nokia is being hit by a growing economic boycott in Iran. Consumers sympathetic to the post-election protest movement are targeting companies deemed to be collaborating with the regime. Wholesale vendors in Tehran report that demand for Nokia handsets has fallen by as much as half in the wake of calls to boycott Nokia. nsn, Nokia

At a Tehran home, a family and its neighbours shout,

If there was a contest for the shortest publication time for a newspaper, Yas No

Pakistan and Iran will sign Gas Sales Purchase Agreement (GSPA) on Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project in Istanbul on Friday, June 5. Pakistan and Iran agreed to sign GSPA in third country and the pact will be governed by French laws. Pakistani team led by MD ISGS Hassan Nawab will leave for Istanbul on the same day.

bauxite mining Vietnam opens door to China Vietnam has invited a Chinese company to mine a massive bauxite reserve beneath its Central Highlands, despite growing opposition to mining and a deep-rooted suspicion of China. Deputy Industry Minister Le Duong Quang said the state-owned Vietnam National Coal would go ahead with a US $460 million venture with a subsidiary of China