The government of India has been able to budge immense pressure from its western allies and has reached an agreement with Iran over how to make payments for the oil imports from the Islamic Republic.

The authorities in Iran has given a month's time to a consortium of Indian state-run oil companies to close contracts for beginning production at a gas field discovered in the Persian Gulf in 2006.

The Indian consortium led by ONGC Videsh, Oil India Ltd and Indian Oil Corporation has expressed interest in developing the Farsi offshore block by investing over $5 billion over a period of seven to eight years.

Wu Hailong, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister has held talks with Ali Baqeri, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council on the nuclear issues, according to a report in the Chinese media.

The talks indicate that Chine might be exerting pressure on the Islamic republic to resume negotiations with western countries over its nuclear programme. Iran is suspected of covertly developing nuclear weapons, a charge it denies and maintains that it has the right to harness civilian nuclear energy for generating power.

The prices of Brent crude moved towards $111 on Monday as concerns over supply disruption due to reactions from Iran.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has warned Gulf countries of consequences if they raised oil output to replace supply from Iran. Even as western countries made alternative arrangements for replacing Iranian oils the international market remained concerned over disruptions.

The authorities in the Islamic republic of Iran have announced a new military exercise in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a majority of the gulf oil passes to several countries.

As a response, the western powers are already preparing a stock of oil to avoid any disruptions in oil supply if the Islamic republic decided to block the strait. The International Energy Agency (IEA) is planning to release up to 14 million barrels per day (bpd) of government-owned oil stored in the United States, Europe, Japan and other countries.

Authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran have said that it has detected the Duqu computer virus that is believed to be aimed at the country’s nuclear establishment.

Experts in the country believe that the Duqu computer virus is based on Stuxnet, which is a cyber programme unearthed last year and is also believed to be designed for sabotaging the nuclear efforts in the country.

Islamabad, Sept 9 : Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani will visit Iran from September 11 to 13 for talks with the Iranian leadership.

“The recent visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to Pakistan and his meetings with Pakistani leaders will provide important substantive inputs into the visit by the Prime Minister Gilani to Iran,” the APP quoted Foreign Office Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua, as saying at the weekly press briefing.

U. S officials have said that three American hikers accused by Iran of illegal entry remain in a Tehran prison after a year in legal limbo without formal charges.

Joshua Fattal, 28, of Pennsylvania, Shane Bauer, 28, of Minnesota and Sarah Shourd, 31, of California were hiking in a mountainous resort area of northern Iraq when they allegedly strayed across the unmarked border into Iran July 31, 2009.

According to official reports, Canada on Monday announced tightened sanctions against Iran, accusing Tehran of defying international law by edging closer to building nuclear weapons.

Postmedia News reported on Monday that Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the heightened sanctions, like previous Canadian sanctions, are directed against the Iranian government, not its people to, "send a strong signal to Iran: the international community is united in purpose and commitment."

A former aide to Iranian presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi said that the supreme leader of Iran must answer for his stance on the Iranian prison system.

Radio Zamaneh, a Persian news service in the Netherlands, reported that Issa Sakarkhiz, who campaigned for Karroubi in 2009, said he was considering pressing charges against Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for "remaining silent in the face of detainee torture."

According to the official reports, the U. S. Senate voted 99-0 Thursday to pass a measure imposing new sanctions on Iran.

The Hill has reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the Senate floor, "The world has watched as Iran has oppressed its own people, violated United Nations resolutions, challenged America and threatened Israel."

U. N. sanctions against Iran amounted to worthless paper and accused the United States of bullying China into going along with them, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Iranian president, while visiting Shanghai, seemed conciliatory toward China while expressing anger for the United States and Israel.

Ahmadinejad said, "We have very good relations with China, and we have no reason to weaken our relations with China. I said the problem is the United States."

According to the reports, Iranian troops have crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan and built a fortified base, one of several recent military incursions as Iraq struggles to form a government amid efforts by Tehran to ensure that a pro-Iranian Shiite alliance takes power.

Another area of contention is the disputed oil-rich Maysan border region in southeastern Iraq.

International jitters has been caused by a report by The Sunday Times of London that Israel plans to deploy its German-built submarines, reputedly armed with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, off Iran.

There are concerns, particularly among Middle Eastern governments, that the Jewish state is being pushed into a corner because of its growing international isolation over its treatment of the Palestinians and the actions of its right-wing government.

Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that experts say would be enough, with further enrichment, to make two nuclear weapons, a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report revealed on Monday.

Iran has now produced over 5,300 pounds of low-enriched uranium, all of which would have to undergo further enrichment before it could be converted to bomb fuel, the inspectors reported on Monday.

Officials have informed that Pakistan and Iran signed an agreement to supply Iranian gas to Pakistan through a $7.5 billion pipeline to be completed in 2014.

The Dawn newspaper has reported that under the 25-year supply agreement, Pakistan will import 750 million cubic feet a day with a provision to increase that to 1 billion cubic feet a day.

The families have said that three U. S. hikers arrested in Iran have spent 10 months in prison without being formally charged and with no access to lawyers.

Shane Bauer, 27, and friend Josh Fattal 27, are in a cell together while Bauer's newly-engaged girlfriend, Sarah Shourd, 31, is in her own cell, ABC News reported Monday.

The three American hikers were arrested in Iran in July 2009 as they hiked a path along the Iran-Iraq border after visiting a region of Iraq, The Oakland (Calif.) Tribune reported.

US president Mr. Barack Obama is interested to pursue a fresh UN sanctions against Iran's nuclear deal despite of its deals with Brazil and Turkey. Mr. Obama has had a discussion with Recep Tayyip, the Turkish Prime Minister over phone and has said that the nuclear deal moves of Iran are not reliable at this point of time.

Both the Brazil and Turkey have informed earlier to the UN Security Council to pay attention towards the nuclear deal they were dealing with Iran. This deal was made to convert the trade uranium of Iran to enriched reactor fuel.

The officials of Turkey have said that the deal on nuclear program of Iran is supposed to be closed. They are saying that on the basis of the joint talks in Teheran. It was attended by the Prime Minister Mr. Erdogan. His main aim was to convince the Iranian leaders to send their nuclear material abroad for processing.

France has refused to have any secret deal with Iran to release the French lecturer who has been charged of spying in the country. The French lecturer Clotilde Reiss has arrived in France with a separate flight from the Iran's capital Teheran. She was charged of spying and has been sentenced for 10 years of jail in Teheran. But her lawyer has said that he had deposited a fine of $285,000 for her release. He has also said that the matter of any secret deal with the country is absolute baseless.

Clotilde Reiss is a lecturer at Iran and aged 25 yrs old. She was accused of e-mailing photographs and espionage of the anti-government protest.