Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that countries like India, if it gets the exemption, would be asked to bring down their oil imports from Iran to zero in six months' time.
Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar contradicted media reports about Zardari going to Dubai from Tehran, where he is participating in a summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation, instead of returning to Islamabad. "The reports of his staying in Dubai and postponing his return to Islamabad are absolutely false, mischievous and seem deliberately designed to cause confusion," Babar said in a statement.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The United States on Thursday put Iran "on notice" for test-firing a ballistic missile and warned of consequences for its "malign actions", signalling a more hardline stance against Tehran that could set the stage for renewed confrontation between the two nations.
'While respecting the American people and distinguishing between them and the hostile policies of the US government, Iran will implement the principle of reciprocity until the offensive US limitations against Iranian nationals are lifted,' a Foreign Ministry statement said.
Iran has complained of irregular shipments
Bahram Ghasemi, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issued a telegram message on Sunday noting that visas would be issued for the Americans partly because of the decision by a US federal judge to "halt the execution of discriminatory restrictions against the entrance of Iranian citizens to America", IRNA reported.
'The US appears to think that Pakistan is highly vulnerable today due to its economic crisis and one more turn of the screw may bring about desired results,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A ferry flight will soon reach the national capital from Tehran with around 300 swab samples of Indians suspected of having coronavirus infection.
Sanket Pandya, one of the two engineers left stranded in Iran since December 2013, has urged the Indian government to facilitate their early and safe return after the duo were illegally 'confined' following the seizure of their passports when their Goa-based employer got embroiled in a dispute with a company there.
The US has told India and other countries to cut oil imports from Iran to 'zero' by November 4 or face sanctions.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday came under attack globally a day after it carried out mass execution of 47 people, including Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who was a vocal critic of the government and the Saudi monarchy.
Iran, Pakistan and India are expected to hold a meeting in Tehran later this month to push the $7.4-billion IPI gas pipeline project that had been delayed after being caught in wrangling over transit fee.
Considering that Qatar is a trusted ally of Washington for decades, it is expected to be a steady influence on the Taliban leadership, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A spokesman for Gibraltar's government also confirmed that police proceedings against four members of the crew had ended.
The nomination of Esper, who is currently serving as the Secretary of the army and previously served as a vice president for government relations at the Raytheon Company, comes days after Patrick Shanahan withdrew his nomination from the top Pentagon position.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who is participating in the XVIth NAM summit being held in Tehran, said on Wednesday, that both India and Pakistan need to tackle their disputes and other issues in a more mature manner, so that they don't continue to haunt the two countries and their respective governments.
India, with the increases already made in the January-March loading plans from Iran, has to cut its purchases of the crude to about 110,000 barrels per day.
He said the US will apply other punitive measures if Tehran does not give up its reported goal of developing nuclear weapons.
Iran's vice-president has criticised the IAEA's recent decision.
Protesters attacked what they deemed to be US' disproportionate response -- the killing of 24 militiamen on Sunday in retaliation for the death of an American contractor on Friday.
Rediff.com encapsulates all the sporting action from the past week in this eye-catching photo feature.
Las Vegas will host the 2015 World wrestling Championship in the first qualifier for what could be wrestling's final appearance as an Olympic sport in the 2016 Rio Games.
Aseem Chhabra brings you the Best of the Berlinale.
Iranian women have been banned from stadiums when men's teams have been playing, since just after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Following is the full text of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna's address on 'Lasting Peace through Joint Global Governance' at the preparatory ministerial meeting of the Non Alignment Movement Summit at Tehran, on Tuesday.
The series of tough international sanctions have weakened Iran, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on said on Monday, adding that even though Tehran has not taken a decision on building nuclear weapons, intelligence information says that it continues to develop their nuclear capabilities.
Is likely to give another six-month reprieve from financial sanctions to India, South Korea, Turkey and others.
Reinforcing Defence Minister A K Antony's virtual no 2 slot in the United Progressive Alliance II government's pecking order, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have issued a communication that the former will chair union cabinet meetings, if required, during his visit to Iran.
Underlining the relevance of the Non-Aligned Movement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said NAM should help in tackling key political and economic challenges, including worsening situation in Syria and a persistent global economic slowdown.
Once Mazar-i-Sharif falls, some isolate pockets of resistance may remain, which the Taliban would tackle through political work or coercion, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Iran was involved in bomb plots targeting Israeli diplomats in India, Thailand and Georgia in February, according to a media report. In India, local agencies believed that a bomb attack which badly injured the wife of the Israeli military attache in New Delhi in February was the work of an Iranian 'security entity'.
OVL, IOC and OIL explored for oil and gas in Farsi block.
Ex-US secretary of state John Kerry has torn into Trump for accusing him of holding "illegal" meetings with Iran.
Thousands of mourners on Saturday joined the formal funeral procession for Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, who was killed a day before near Baghdad's international airport in an air strike ordered by United States President Donald Trump.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India's imports from Iran rose to 250,200 barrels per day
The Left parties on Friday night hit out at the government for going along with a US-sponsored resolution censuring Iran for its controversial nuclear programme saying India's stand was not surprising.
To facilitate wheat exports of up to 1.5 million tonnes to Iran, discussions are on with Tehran with regard to lifting the 16-year old ban on the Indian grain, a government official said.
