Washington is worried that Iran continues to attract investment from China despite a new round of UN Security Council sanctions imposed on Tehran, a US official says. Read the full story

The Arab League foreign ministers on Thursday authorized the Palestinian Authority to enter direct negotiations with Israel and left it up to PA President Mahmoud Abbas to decide on the timing. Read the full story

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the United States and Israel plan to attack two countries in the Middle East as part of a conspiracy to apply pressure on Iran. Read the full story

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of turning against Teheran and joining US efforts to spread lies about its nuclear program on Friday, in the latest sign that Iran is drifting apart from a one-time key backer. Read the full story

The head of Hezbollah has said that some of its members will be among those charged with the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Read the full story

An Arab man convicted in Israel of rape because he pretended he was a Jew when he had consensual sex with a Jewish woman has called the verdict racist. Read the full story

Israel must go beyond easing its blockade of Gaza and throw open its long-closed border, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has said. Lady Ashton urged the international community to pressure Israel to end the blockade. Read the full story

Turkey has for the first time threatened to break diplomatic ties with Israel over its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May. Turkey’s foreign minister said a break could only be averted if Israel either apologised or accepted the outcome of an international inquiry into the raid. Read the full story

Iranian aircraft will not be permitted to refuel in Germany, the UK and the United Arab Emirates, AFP reported Monday, citing an ISNA report. Read the full story

The CEO of French energy giant Total, Christophe de Margerie, says imposing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program was a “serious mistake.” Read the full story

Iran has provided Syria with an advanced radar system which could provide it with early warning of an Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, quoting Israeli and US officials. Read the full story

Iran said on Tuesday it would soon resume nuclear talks with Turkey and Brazil — a tentative first step back to international negotiations after Tehran was hit with a new wave of sanctions over its disputed nuclear work. Read the full story

Turkey has barred an Israeli military flight from Turkish airspace, in apparent retaliation for Israel’s raid on an aid convoy bound for Gaza. Turkey’s prime minister confirmed that a “ban” had been implemented following the 31 May raid, in which nine Turkish citizens on the flotilla were killed. Read the full story

Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal. Read the full story

Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard is now in the cross-hairs of U.N. penalties over Tehran’s nuclear program, and it’s an elusive target — a master at the sanctions-busting strategies long used by the Islamic Republic. Read the full story

Egypt’s biggest opposition group has said it will back the former UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei’s political change campaign, reports say. Read the full story

Strategic ties between Jerusalem and Washington are slowly changing, Mossad chief Meir Dagan told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday. Read the full story

More than 10 people have been killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army says. Read the full story

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says world powers cannot use their nuclear weapons to bully other nations into giving up efforts to obtain peaceful nuclear energy. Read the full story

Russia has pledged to “actively support” the Tehran Nuclear Declaration on condition that the landmark fuel swap proposal is fully implemented. Read the full story

Israel was sharply rebuked and accused of war crimes and serious breaches of international law in Amnesty International’s annual report, published on Wednesday. Read the full story

Iran’s president on Wednesday urged US President Barack Obama to accept the Brazilian-brokered nuclear fuel exchange deal, warning that Obama will miss a historic opportunity for improved cooperation from Teheran if the offer is rejected. Read the full story

Russia will lose its credibility if it fails to fulfill a contract to deliver the S-300 defense missiles to Iran, Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow says. Read the full story

Israeli police have recommended that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman face fresh charges in a corruption scandal. Read the full story

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the UN Security Council lacks the “credibility” to deal with Iran’s nuclear issue. Read the full story

Tehran has agreed to a draft proposal whereby Iran will ship its domestic low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for 20 percent enriched uranium in return. Read the full story