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Netanyahu Says Iran Must End 'Aggression' for Sanctions Relief

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday Iran should have to end its "aggression in the region" to win relief from sanctions, taking another swipe at a framework nuclear agreement.

World powers agreed with Iran last week on the framework of a deal to be signed by the end of June to rein in its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

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Iran Seizes 500 Tonnes of Drugs in Year

Iran, a key transit route for illegal drugs trafficked from Afghanistan, has seized almost 500 tonnes of narcotics in the past year, the anti-drug police chief said Saturday.

General Ali Moayedi, quoted in Iranian media, said the drugs intercepted in the 12 months to March 2015 included 390 tonnes of opium and 10 tonnes of heroin.

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Red Cross Plane Flies More Aid into Yemen Capital

A Red Cross plane loaded with medical aid landed in Sanaa on Saturday, the second successive day of such deliveries to the capital of conflict-hit Yemen, a spokeswoman said.

The aircraft was carrying supplies the International Committee of the Red Cross says are urgently needed to treat the wounded after intense fighting between Shiite rebels and loyalists of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

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Australia Says Iran Should Take back Failed Asylum-Seekers

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Saturday that Iran should take back its citizens who failed in their bids for refugee status, confirming his government will lobby Tehran on the issue.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is expected to raise the deportation of Iranian nationals when she visits Tehran next week, a move which could ease pressure on Australian immigration camps on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

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Hizbullah Denies Party Member Killed in Yemen

Hizbullah denied on Saturday media reports that any of its members had been killed in Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is stepping up air raids on allies of Iran-backed rebels.

“The Saudi Asharq al-Awsat daily and some Saudi and Lebanese news outlets have claimed that a Hizbullah member had been martyred in Yemen,” said the party's press office in a statement.

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U.S. Downplays Iran Warning on Nuclear Deal

The White House on Friday played down warnings by Iran's leaders that they may not sign a final deal of a framework accord on their nuclear program with international negotiators.

"The test of whether or not that framework can be memorialized in a deal is not going to be a comment made... by a particular Iranian leader," senior White House advisor Ben Rhodes said.

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Berri Says Dialogue between Mustaqbal, Hizbullah Ongoing

Speaker Nabih stressed on Friday that dialogue between the rival two parties al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah will continue, pointing out that the upcoming session will remain on time.

“Dialogue will continue and will continue to achieve Lebanon's best interest,” Berri said.

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Sarmadi Meets Nasrallah, Says Presidential Deadlock Requires Lebanese Consensus

The special envoy of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Morteza Sarmadi, met during a short visit to Lebanon Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, stressing that the presidential stalemate in Lebanon could only be resolved by the Lebanese.

“Such a local matter could only be resolved by the rival parties and the key issue is consensus among the Lebanese,” Sarmadi said in an interview published in As Safir newspaper published on Friday.

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Rifi to Raad: Those Criticizing Usurpation of Yemenis' Will Have Condemned themselves in Syria

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi criticized Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc chief MP Mohmmed Raad's response to Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri over the developments in Yemen and Iran's role in the region, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Friday.

He said: “Those speaking against the usurpation of the will of the Yemeni people have condemned themselves in supporting the actions of the Syrian regime, which has destroyed its cities and villages on its residents.”

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Pakistan PM, Army Chief Meet Iran Foreign Minister on Yemen

The Iranian foreign minister on Thursday met Pakistan's prime minister and powerful army chief as part of efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Yemen.

Mohammed Javad Zarif met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the end of a two-day visit focused on the Yemen crisis, as Washington warned Tehran against supporting the Huthi Shiite rebels.

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