The United States says Iranian officials appear to be debating how to respond to an international offer to suspend a key part of its nuclear program.

Global oil prices will jump to unprecedented levels in case of any aggression against Iran, the country's oil minister said on Saturday.

U.S. President George Bush is calling on Iran's leaders to drop their objections to a modified package of incentives put forward by the five UN permanent Security Council members plus Germany. From Paris, VOA White House correspondent Paula Wolfson reports the dispute over Iran's nuclear program and other Mideast issues dominated the agenda when Mr. Bush met with French President Nicholas Sarkozy.

The Iranian authorities announced yesterday their decision to join the Nabucco pipeline project.
The project is intended to pump 20-30 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Central Asia under the Caspian Sea, then through Azerbaijan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.

Earlier we had reported that Armenia makes serious steps in becoming a financial center by attracting investments in its banking sector aiming to become a financial mediator between the Middle East and Europe. Now Armenia makes another step by strengthening it's tiles with the central bank of Iran attracting more Iranian financial capital to Armenia's banking center.

Six key world powers have agreed to make a new offer to Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, in a bid to ease the West's long-running stand-off with Tehran.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said sending a second aircraft carrier to thePersian Gulf could serve as a "reminder' to Iran, but he said it is not an escalation of force.

Iran is prepared to try and reach an agreement with any country over its nuclear program, but will not stop its development of peaceful atomic energy, the Islamic Republic's president said on Wednesday.

United States presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned Iran against an attack on Israel. "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," the former First Lady said.

Iranians are voting Friday in parliamentary elections, which are expected to keep power in the hands of the country's conservative faction.

A senior U.S. Army general says Iranian support for violent extremists in Iraq is one of his chief concerns for Iraq's long-term stability. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno spoke two weeks after ending a 15-month tour of duty as the number-two American commander in Iraq.