AFP: Iran’s new foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, is to pay a two-day visit to Algeria next week as part of efforts to boost bilateral ties, the APS news agency reporting Monday.

Reuters: A 25 km-long oil slick off Iran’s Gulf shore will take at least two months to clean up and could do irreparable damage do the local marine environment, news agencies reported on Monday.

AFP: Iran is mass-producing a ballistic missile which can travel at more than three times the speed of sound and hit targets on the high seas, a top commander said on Monday.

AP: Iran says it has built four new domestically produced satellites as part of a space program that’s worrying other nations.

AFP: Iran’s elite military force, the Revolutionary Guards, denied on Monday that it is holding former FBI agent Robert Levinson as reported on some websites.

AFP: Afghanistan on Monday dismissed a claim by Tehran that the two countries had reached an agreement for Iran to supply all of its private sector fuel, drawing out a long-running dispute between the neighbours.

New York Times: The trial of the three American hikers accused of espionage and illegally entering Iran began behind closed doors on Sunday, and not guilty pleas were entered on their behalf, their lawyer said.

Reuters: Two Americans held in Iran for the last 18 months on suspicion of espionage pleaded not guilty in court on Sunday on the first day of their closed-door trial, state television reported.