German FM: Iran signals readiness to nuclear talks

ILNA:Iran is showing increased readiness to resume talks about its nuclear program, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Friday.

Following talks in Berlin with Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Westerwelle said "We’ve not been able to ascertain any substantial changes in the Iranian position, but we are certainly picking up new signals about their readiness to talk," he said, adding that only time would tell whether this would produce results.
"Whether this readiness to talk leads to concrete talks that are hopefully constructive, time will tell . But it seems that these signals are being transmitted. We have both detected this in our respective areas."
Earlier, Westerwelle told the Financial Times Deutschland newspaper that talks should be started quickly and said that he believed international pressure was having an effect on Iran.
There have been no substantive discussions since late 2009, but European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told Reuters in late September that talks between Iran and six world powers involved in diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute could take place "in the next few weeks."

Iran, Armenia parliament speakers meet

PressTV--Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani met his Armenian counterpart Hovik Abrahamyan in Yerevan on Friday.

During the afternoon meeting, the two officials discussed regional security and called for the expansion of parliamentary ties and economic cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan, IRNA reported.
Speaking to reporters in Tehran before his departure, Larijani said Iran is seeking to forge friendly ties with its neighbors and wants to work together with them to enhance security and establish peace in the region.
Larijani arrived in Yerevan on Friday and is scheduled to travel to the Kazakh capital Astana on Saturday afternoon.
A number of MPs are accompanying him as part of his delegation, including representatives of Iran’s Armenian community.
Commenting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Abrahamyan said the problem should be solved within Minsk Group format.
The Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe [OSCE]) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Larijani also said the dispute should be resolved through negotiations and on the basis of justice,More. 
 
Ambassador says Iran confused why Russia broke S-300 contract

Tehran Times --It is not clear why Russia has decided not to deliver the S-300 missile system to Iran, Tehran’s Ambassador to Moscow said
 on Thursday.

“Of course, we have a contract with the Russian government, in which different issues including (possible) disagreements were predicted” and Iran will act accordingly, Reza Sajjadi told the Azeri Salam news network.
According to a contract signed in 2005, Russia undertook to deliver the S-300 missile system to Iran.
Russia’s president signed a decree last month banning supplies of S-300 missiles and other arms to Iran in a long-awaited move after weeks of deliberations by Russian officials.
Sajjadi said the S-300 missile system is a defensive weapon, which will not pose any threat to any country.
Even U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, following the issuance of the 1929 resolution, said the delivery of S-00 missile system to Iran does not violate the resolution but expressed hope Russia would not deliver the system, the diplomat noted.
However, he said Iran and Russia share similar views on a variety of matters despite disagreements over some issues.
“(I) believe we and Russia have common interests and threats in the region,” he said, adding both countries are concerned about drug trafficking and terrorism.
He also said Tehran and Moscow are against the military presence of foreigners in the region.
On the Caspian Sea, the two states have very close sentiments, he stated.
On Afghanistan and the Middle East, Tehran and Moscow hold constant talks and have close views, too, he added. More

Iran has grown stronger from sanctions, finance minister says

CNN-- During a rare news conference in the United States, Iran’s finance and economic minister held up a copy of U.S. News & World Report from 1980.

On the cover was a picture of then-President Jimmy Carter and Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini with the caption, "Where Will It All Lead?" The issue featured an article about the United States’ tightening of economic sanctions against the regime in Tehran while keeping the military option on the table.

"Iran has faced sanctions for 30 years," said Shamseddin Hosseini, who is in Washington for International Monetary Fund meetings this weekend. "And yet Iran’s economy is stronger."

The message: Iran hasn’t exactly welcomed the sanctions plaguing the country for three decades. But it has adapted and can continue to do so.

"It goes without saying that Iran has faced some trouble from sanctions," Hosseini told reporters. "But the positive effects are it made Iranians invest in the country. ... We can pass the obstacles produced and made by sanctions."

Hosseini argued that while Iran faced some economic hardships after the world financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, it has bounced back better than ever, thanks to rising oil prices over the past few years.More

Iran police kill two key perpetrators of Kurdistan terrorist attack

ISNA-Iranian police forces killed two key perpetrators of the recent terrorist attack in Western part of the country with other agents are wanted.

A terrorist attack on police kiosk in the western city of Sanandaj by counter-revolutionary agents claimed lives of four police forces and a common citizen and wounded nine others on Thursday evening.

The group members fled after the terrorist action.

A police official of Kurdistan province told reporters that, "two agents stared shooting at individuals and police forces aimlessly killing five people and injuring nine others at 5:10 pm local time."

"One of the martyrs and four of the injured were pedestrians," Kazeminejad said.

The bodies of the martyrs are buried on Saturday.

So far terrorist attacks and counter-revolutionary groups’ operations have claimed lives of 20 individuals in Kurdistan province.