man squad on Thursday for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Qatar. Iran is preparing for a must-win game against Qatar, slated for June 4 in the Qatari capital Doha. The Persians are grouped with South Korea, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Lebanon for the final round of the Asian World Cup qualifying stages and need to finish at least second to qualify for Brazil 2014.

TEHRAN – Iran’s Khazar Oil Company has signed eight contracts with domestic contractors in order to develop Sardar-e Jangal oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea, the company’s managing director Ali Osuli said. The development plan needs up to $10 billion to complete, ISNA quoted Osuli as saying on Friday.

TEHRAN – Ali-Asghar Soltanieh, the representative of Iran to international organizations based in Vienna, has been appointed as the head of the Program and Budget Committee the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), IRNA reported.

kilometer long wall across a border gate with Syria to prevent ‘illegal crossings into the country,’ a report says. The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported on Wednesday that Turkish Trade and Customs Minister Hayati Yazici had announced that the wall would be built along the Cilvegozu gate with Syria in Turkey’s southern province of Hatay.

U.S. President Barack Obama has defended his country's controversial drone attacks as legal, effective and a necessary tool in an evolving U.S. counterterrorism policy. But addressing an audience at the National Defense University on Thursday, he acknowledged that the targeted strikes were no "cure-all" and said he was haunted by the civilians unintentionally killed.

Iran’s national broadcaster has announced its programs to cover the country’s upcoming presidential election, as candidates embark on their campaigns for the June 14 polls.

Heavily armed gunmen have opened fire at a convoy carrying NATO military vehicles in the troubled northwest Pakistan, killing at least a driver and destroying two trucks.

At least two Afghan police officers and two assailants have been killed in clashes in the capital Kabul after multiple explosions rocked an administrative district in the city, officials say.

The United States has arrested a Californian man suspected of killing four family members in the Czech Republic, Czech police say.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted to the inefficacy of the US-engineered sanctions against Iran, saying the measures have no effect on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

Araqchi, who is in Ankara for an official visit, emphasized on Thursday that the crisis in Syria cannot be resolved through military means.

"Following the identification of active members of several groups linked to the MKO grouplet, several simultaneous sting operations were conducted in Tehran and several other cities and serious blows were dealt to those groups," the security official said on the condition of anonymity on Friday.

Thousands of Iraqis have held unity prayers across the nation to show solidarity against attempts to push the country into sectarian strife.

British Respect MP George Galloway has described the Woolwich attack as an "indefensible crime", saying that Britain's complicity in Syria is equally reprehensible.

Several people are feared dead or injured after multiple explosions rocked an administrative district in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Press TV reports.

Iran security forces have arrested a number of people linked to the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) on mission to cause turmoil during the upcoming presidential election, a security official says.

A new assessment reveals that gun-related violence in the US’s third largest city, Chicago, costs the country USD 2.5 billion a year.

Bahrainis have held fresh anti-regime demonstrations in the village of Diraz to protest against an attack by security forces on the house of top Shia cleric, Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Ahmed Qassim.

Iran Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani has called on the country’s presidential candidates to avoid character assassination in their debates.