AP: A Cypriot official says a ship suspected of transporting Iranian arms to Gaza is free to leave the island, as its cargo has been unloaded.

AP: A top Iranian defense official says the country has built an unmanned surveillance aircraft with a range of more than 600 miles.

AFP: Bahrain said on Wednesday it has halted negotiations with Iran over a major gas import deal in a deepening row over comments that touch on the sovereignty of the tiny Gulf kingdom.

AFP: US Senator Benjamin Cardin called on Syria on Wednesday to end its three-decade alliance with Iran as Washington reviews its policies towards the Middle East.

Reuters: Iran will finalize a $5 billion deal with France's Total by March 20 to develop Phase Two of South Pars gas field, the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, Seyfollah Jashnsaz, was quoted as saying by state television.

Reuters: Iran partially floated its second-largest bank on the Tehran Stock Exchange on Wednesday, but only about half of the offered 5 percent stake in Bank Mellat was sold, officials and media said.

Reuters: A sound bomb exploded in a city mosque in a volatile area of eastern Iran near Pakistan on Wednesday, causing minor damage but no casualties, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

Washington Post: Seven leaders of the Bahai faith who have been detained for more than eight months in Iran have been officially accused of espionage, a spokesman for the Iranian judiciary said Tuesday.

Reuters: Gulf Arab states are beginning to worry that any U.S. rapprochement with Iran could ultimately lead to their worst nightmare — a nuclear-armed, non-Arab, Shi'ite Muslim superpower in their neighbourhood.