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Tehran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s media adviser Ali-Akbar Javanfekr has been sentenced by a Tehran court to one year in jail for publishing an article that insulted the dress code for women in Iran, a media report said.

He was also banned Sunday from engaging in media activities for three years, Xinhua reported citing the Mehr news agency.

Javanfekr was convicted of publishing an article and pictures in a local Iranian daily in August that allegedly insulted the Islamic dress code for women.

The Iranian public prosecutor’s office Sunday also slapped a ban on the Etemad newspaper for two months, for publishing the story based on an interview with Javanfekr and for “disseminating lies and insulting officials”, Mehr reported.

Moscow, Nov 14: Russia may soon sign new contracts with Saudi Arabia on the export of helicopters and air defence missile systems, the state-run arms exporter said Monday.

Rosoboronexport has already signed a number of big contracts with Saudi Arabia, and they were being implemented, said deputy head of the exporter Alexander Mikheyev at the Dubai 2011 airshow.

Russia has been negotiating a $6 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia since 2007.

The arms package reportedly includes T-90S battle tanks, BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, Mi-35 attack helicopters, and Mi-17 multi-role helicopters as well as Pansir-S1 air defence systems.

Russia could also sell advanced S-300 or even S-400 air defence missile systems to Saudi Arabia, media report say.

The arms sales to Saudi Arabia would be a major breakthrough for Russia, as the Saudi market has been dominated by the US and Britain.

Washington, Nov 12: The US is expecting Iran to answer the "serious" questions raised by the recent IAEA report on Tehran's nuclear programme, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

Clinton made the remarks Friday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, Xinhua reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report says Iran continued nuclear weapons research and technology development after 2003, even after declaring a halt in its nuclear programme.

Clinton said she and officials from the Asia-Pacific region discussed the IAEA report that raised "serious concerns about the weapon-related work the Iranian government has undertaken".

"The US will continue to consult closely with partners and allies on the next steps we can take to increase pressure on Iran," Clinton said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed deep concern over the alleged military nuclear programme in Iran, and called for a diplomatic solution, rather than a military one to the standoff with Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi has said the IAEA documents were "unfounded and baseless".

The US and its Western allies worry that Iran would use the uranium enrichment to make nuclear weapons, but Tehran has long insisted on the "peaceful" aspect of its nuclear programme.

Tehran, Nov 10: Iran will respond "powerfully" to any attack by the US and Israel, said Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said Thursday.

"The enemies, especially the United States and the Zionist regime (of Israel) should know that Iran does not aggress any country, but will respond to any aggression (on the Islamic Republic) and even to any threats (to the country) powerfully," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Khamenei as saying while addressing Iranian army students.

"Anybody who may think of aggression on the Islamic republic should make itself ready to receive strong slaps and iron fists from the Iranian Army, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, (the voluntary forces of) Basij and in one word, from the great Iranian nation," he said, Xinhua reported.

Khamenei called on Iran's armed forces to be prepared to defend the country.

Khamenei's remarks came amid reports that the western countries and Israel may launch an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities after the IAEA's latest report accused Tehran of engaging in activities related to the development of nuclear weapons.

According to the IAEA report, Iran continued its nuclear weapons research and technology development evven after 2003, when it declared a halt in its nuclear programme. It states that Iran had temporarily frozen nuclear activities, but that there was evidence the programme continued to be carried out at a more modest pace.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called IAEA head Yukiya Amano a US puppet.

Iran has officially complained to U.S. for statements the Iranian govt was engaged in alleged plot for killing of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to United States, the U.S. official stated Sunday.

The officer mentioned that U.S. got the diplomatic note on Friday indicating displeasure with those charges which were leveled previously this month. Iran has previously refused these allegations. The official stated this note was sent through Swiss embassy in Tehran, which usually signifies U.S. interests in Iran because these 2 nations do not have diplomatic relationships.

This letter called for the U.S. apology for ambassador plot allegations as well as sought unspecified settlement for “materials as well as ethical loss of their baseless accusation,” the resource included.

This official also spoke on situation of privacy to talk about the private diplomatic swap.

Previously this month, United states authorities claimed agents connected to Iran’s Quds Force — an top notch side of powerful Revolutionary Safeguard — were included in this suspected plot to destroy the Saudi ambassador to United states., Adel Al-Jubeir.

The Iranian diplomatic resource, that additionally talked for issue of anonymity due to the fact of the level of sensitivity of this issue, stated the letter highlighted Iranian statements that Washington’s allegations tend to be “based on lies” as well as called in to question United states diplomatic strategies that Iran calls violations of the “international rules as well as legislation.”

A U.S.-Iranian person that keeps the Iranian passport, Manssor Arbabsiar, 56, pleaded not really responsible last week in U.S. District Court within New York in link with this plot allegations.

According to U.S. complaint, Arbabsiar has accepted his part in the $1.5 million plot for killinkg of the ambassador in the Washington restaurant simply by setting off explosives.