Tehran - Iran on Monday said that the launching of its satellite carrier was a scientific rather than military project, official news agency IRNA reported.

"The enemies of Iran are trying to distort Iran's scientific achievements and portray them as a military issue," Defence Minister Mostafa-Mohammad Najar was quoted by IRNA as saying.

London, Aug. 18 : Iran’s announcement that it has sent a rocket carrying a dummy satellite into space on Sunday, is likely to further exacerbate tensions with the West over its nuclear drive, reports The Telegraph.

"The Safir (Ambassador) rocket was successfully launched. All its systems... are Iranian-made," the paper quoted Reza Taghipour, the head of Iran''s space agency, as telling state television, adding that a "test satellite was put into orbit."

"We have paved the way for placing a satellite in space in future," state television said, showing images of the pre-dawn rocket launch that was watched by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Tehran - The chief inspector of the United Nations nuclear watchdog arrived Monday in Tehran to hold talks with officials of the Iranian Atomic Organization to Tehran, the ISNA news agency reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) chief inspector, Olli Heinonen, is in Tehran to follow up on last week's negotiations with the head of the Iranian Atomic Organization, Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh, ISNA reported.

Tehran termed the two-day talks last week as "constructive" but refrained from saying whether they also opened up perspectives for a breakthrough in the nuclear dispute.

Tehran - Iran's Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance denied reports that Irish singer Chris de Burgh would hold a concert in Tehran, official news agency IRNA reported Saturday.

The local media reported last month that de Burgh was scheduled to perform a concert in Tehran in late November, the first concert by a Western pop singer since the
1979 Islamic revolution.

The ministry's music department said that there had neither been any official request nor any relevant permission issued for the concert.

Istanbul - Ankara and Tehran were unable to reach an agreement on natural gas Friday as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ended his visit to Turkey, Turkish media reported.

A row about how revenues would be divided up and investment terms are believed to be the sticking points, but the reports said the talks would continue.

"Turkey is the most important country for the delivery of gas to Europe," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying Friday. He said he hoped an agreement would be reached soon.

Tehran- Iranian Vice-President Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei has been summoned by parliament for having made pro-Israeli comments, ISNA news agency reported Tuesday.

The cultural commission of the parliament has called for a special session on Wednesday with Rahim-Mashaei for him to reply to "questions, ambiguities and criticism" by the deputies over the comments.

The vice-president, who is in charge of cultural heritage and tourism, said that Iran would be friends with both the Israeli and American people despite political problems with the two countries. He emphasized this position again on Monday.