Iran summons Egyptian envoy for not allowing aid ship

September 21st, 2009 Rights groups: UN must name special envoy for IranNEW YORK — Human rights groups urged the United Nations on Monday to appoint a special envoy to investigate continuing abuses in Iran following the disputed presidential elections there. "The United Nations should use President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the U.N.

September 21st, 2009 Rights groups want UN Iran envoyNEW YORK — Human rights groups are urging the United Nations to appoint a special envoy to investigate continuing abuses in Iran following the disputed presidential elections there. Human Rights Watch and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran say that at least 72 people have died in the crackdown that followed opposition protests against the ballot, in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election.

August 20th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran Thursday commissioned its first indigenously built cargo ship in the country's southern port city of Hormozgan, FARS news agency reported. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flagged the vessel's maiden journey in the Persian Gulf at a ceremony held in Hormozgan.

July 15th, 2009 Gadhafi says Iran nuclear program to be supportedSHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says Iran should be encouraged to pursue its nuclear program as long as it is for peaceful purposes. Gadhafi was addressing Wednesday's opening session of a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.

July 14th, 2009 In possible Iran signal, Israeli boats cross SuezJERUSALEM — Two Israeli warships sailed through the Suez Canal on Tuesday, Israeli and Egyptian officials said, a move that appeared to be a new signal to Iran that Israel's reach could quickly extend to its archenemy's backyard. The Suez Canal is a strategic waterway linking the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, the gateway to the Persian Gulf.

May 15th, 2009 SANA'A - A South Korean warship and a US destroyer rescued an Egyptian ship and captured the 17 Somali pirates who attacked it off the coast of Yemen, the US Navy said Thursday. The Korean destroyer ROKS Munmu the Great and US guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg responded to a distress call from the Egyptian-flagged MV Amira Wednesday after it was attacked by pirates, the US Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said in a statement.

April 29th, 2009 TEHRAN - The report about a missile attack by the US or Israel against an Iranian navy ship is false, an official said Tuesday. 'The report published in certain section of the media was part of a psychological warfare against Iran and is completely baseless,' IRNA reported citing an unnamed Iranian defence official.

April 27th, 2009 US envoy on Iran policy to visit GulfWASHINGTON — The State Department is sending its special envoy for the Persian Gulf to the region to discuss international diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to abandon its suspected quest for nuclear weapons. It will be the first trip to the region for Dennis Ross since he was named to the position in late February.

March 20th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Iran has accused Pakistan of allowing its soil to be used against it. Addressing a press conference here, Iran's Ambassador to Pakistan Mashall-ah Shakeri asked Islamabad to curb the activities of Jund Ullah which is involved in carrying out anti-Iran activities from Pakistani soil.

March 16th, 2009 CAIRO - An international team of archaeologists has reconstructed an ancient Egyptian ship of the first quarter of the second millennium BC called "Min of the Desert", in order to find how the ancient Egyptians sailed to the fabled Land of Punt. Until a few years ago, there was a widely held belief that the ancient Egyptians did not travel long distances by sea because of their poor naval technology.

January 13th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran claimed Wednesday that Israeli forces have stopped its ship containing humanitarian aid for Palestinians from reaching the Gaza Strip, the official IRNA news agency reported. The Iranian ship 'Shahed' carrying food and medicine for Gazans who have been suffering from severe humanitarian crisis was stopped some 20 miles off the Gaza coast, said Ahmad Navab, an Iranian official in charge of the aid shipment.

January 10th, 2009 MUMBAI - An Iranian chartered ship with 25 crew members, including seven Indians, has been released by Somalian pirates, a maritime union official said here Sunday. 'We received confirmation that the terrorists have released the ship and it is now sailing to Iran.

January 8th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Market watchdog Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Friday served Satyam's disgraced chief B. Ramalinga Raju with summons, asking him to appear for hearing in connection with a Rs.70-billion accounting fraud.

January 1st, 2009 CAIRO - An Egyptian ship with a crew of 28 was seized off the Somali Coast, an Egyptian official said Thursday. Some 15 heavily armed pirates captured the ship Blue Star, which is now on its way to the Somalian coast, Ahmed Rizk, assistant to Egypt's Foreign Minister said in a press statement.

December 24th, 2008 KUALA LUMPUR - A German warship and helicopter Thursday succeeded in foiling an attempt by pirates to board an Egyptian bulk carrier travelling in the troubled Gulf of Aden off Somalia's coast. The ship, which had 31 crew aboard, was headed for an Asian port from the Egyptian port of Suez when pirates approached the vessel and started firing at crew members, said Noel Choong, head of the anti-piracy International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur.