Afghan President Hamid Karzai Wednesday broke off crucial security talks with the United States, angry over the name given to a new Taliban office in Qatar that is meant to facilitate peace negotiations.

Russia is insisting that Iran and Saudi Arabia should take part in the international peace conference to be held for the Syrian crisis.

France says it will welcome the presence of Iran’s president-elect in the Geneva conference on Syria “if he can be constructive”.

In Northern Ireland, G8 leaders asked for a speedy Syria peace conference as they lined up to pressure Russia into toning down its support for the Syrian president.

The victory of the national Iranian team against South Korea which earned the country a ticket for 2014 World Cup was met with warm congratulations by officials at home.

Iran and South Korea both qualified for the 2014 World Cup finals after a 1-0 victory for the Iranian visitors in Ulsan on Tuesday. The victory saw Iran top Asia's qualifying Group A and take one of the two places on offer.

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has dismissed as “mischief” recent reports implying that the court order recently issued to President Ahmadinejad was based on personal issues between the two heads of government branches.

President Ahmadinejad says that his cabinet is ready to fully and properly share its experiences with the new government.

The final results of the City Council elections for Tehran came out showing that both Principlist and Reformist candidates have been given voice in running the urban affairs of the capital.

The U.S. president says that he is hopeful about Iran's pick of a new president, something he says shows Iran seeks to step into a new path, stressing there is no reason to bring talks with Tehran to an end.

Day one of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland revealed that Washington and Moscow are still divided on how to stem the violence in Syria, though both stressed commitment to ending the conflict and bringing about dialogues.