Manouchehr Mottaki

TEHRAN: Osama bin Laden’s daughter who has taken refuge at the Saudi mission in Tehran is free to leave Iran once her identity is confirmed; Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying. “A while ago the Saudi embassy here said that one of Osama bin Laden’s daughters is in the compound, so the foreign ministry told the embassy that based on international conventions if her identity is confirmed she can leave Iran with passage documents,” local news agency quoted Mr Mottaki as telling state television. “We were not able to confirm her identity but the embassy says she is” the daughter of Osama, ... Read Full Story

Lebanon has announced its repudiation of 2004 UN Security Council resolution 1559 which in 2004 ordered all militias including Hizballah disbanded and disarmed. Lebanese sources reported Wednesday, Dec. 23, that president Michel Suleiman had notified US president Barack Obama about this decision, while Lebanese foreign minister Ali al-Shami passed the word to heads of the diplomatic missions. The announcement came two days after Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki visited Beirut shortly after Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri held talks in Damascus with Syrian president Bashar Assad. And remember that US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell is a Lebanese descendant. More Read Full Story

Lebanon has announced its repudiation of 2004 UN Security Council resolution 1559 which in 2004 ordered all militias including Hizballah disbanded and disarmed. Lebanese sources reported Wednesday, Dec. 23, that president Michel Suleiman had notified US president Barack Obama about this decision, while Lebanese foreign minister Ali al-Shami passed the word to heads of the diplomatic missions. The announcement came two days after Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki visited Beirut shortly after Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri held talks in Damascus with Syrian president Bashar Assad. And remember that US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell is a Lebanese descendant. More Read Full Story

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Three U.S. citizens detained in Iran and charged with espionage will stand trial, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday. The three were held after they strayed into Iran from northern Iraq at the end of July. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Washington strongly believed there was no evidence to support any charges against them. "They have entered Iran with suspicious aims. The judiciary will try them and their sentences will be carried out," Mottaki told a news conference. Last month, Iran's judiciary announced the espionage charges against the trio. (Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; writing by Fredrik Dahl; ... Read Full Story

Tehran Tuesday accused the United States of abducting an Iranian nuclear scientist who went missing in Saudi Arabia during a minor Muslim pilgrimage, and said Riyadh must also be held accountable. Shahram Amiri reportedly disappeared from the holy city of Medina early June, just three days after landing in Saudi Arabia. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki accused Washington of kidnapping Amiri. "Based on existing pieces of evidence that we have at our disposal, the Americans had a role in Mr. Amiri's abduction," Mottaki said at a press conference in Farsi which was translated into English by Press TV channel. "The Americans did abduct him. Therefore ... Read Full Story