Xinhua: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Tuesday met with former Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and the two agreed to continue consultations to “deepen mutual understanding” on bilateral, regional and international issues, the Egyptian foreign ministry said.

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jan. 02 – Pakistan had told Iran not to send envoys to the funeral procession of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto who was killed in a suicide attack by suspected Islamists on Thursday, an Iranian official said.

Washington Times: The widow of a naturalized American citizen won a $466 million federal court judgment Friday against the Iranian government, which she accuses of torturing and executing her husband.

Reuters: Iran has reduced natural gas exports to Turkey after Turkmenistan halted supplies to Iran, an Iranian energy official said on Tuesday.

AP: Iranian scientists said Monday that the country’s first cloned sheep is thriving 15 months after birth, eating well and frolicking among a flock of normal sheep. The cloned male sheep named Royana was born Sept. 30, 2006 in the historic central city of Isfahan, less than two months after the country’s first cloned animal, also a lamb, died within minutes of birth.