Iran

Iran is banning the entry of U.S. consumer goods, the commerce and industry minister has said, as the country prepares for a lifting of economic sanctions.

Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a post-row summit on Nov 9, hoping a massive 10 year defense deal will help them move beyond a bitter public fight that shook a decades-old alliance.

A unique snake species called "cerastes," known as the desert horned viper, has been seen at the Küre Mountains National Park for the first time in the region.

An illegitimate "Halal KFC" restaurant has been closed in Iran within days of its opening as the parent company in the United States is seeking legal action over the opening, as reported by Al Arabiya News. The restaurant manager, however, said the restaurant was a part of a brand known as Halal KFC, which comes from Turkey. 

Turkish authorities prevented 87 refugees from crossing into Greece and Bulgaria near the border city of Edirne on Monday, dailysabah.com reported.

The refugees from Iran, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia have opted for the land route across Turkey's northwestern border in their attempt to reach Europe as weather conditions in the Aegean Sea are worseninig.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet the UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura in Moscow on Nov 4 as diplomats try to keep up a push aimed at ending the bloody war.

President Barack Obama said on Nov. 2 the planned deployment of dozens of U.S. special forces to Syria to advise opposition forces fighting Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) did not break his promise not to put "boots on the ground" in the Syrian conflict.

Iran has begun shutting down uranium enrichment centrifuges under the terms of a deal struck with six world powers in July on limiting its nuclear programme, Tehran's atomic energy chief said on Nov. 2 during a visit to Tokyo.

Iran said on Nov. 2 it would pull out of Syria peace talks if it found them unconstructive, citing Saudi Arabia's negative role, according to the ISNA news agency. 

A Kurdish journalist and activist risks deportation to Bulgaria from where he fears he might be extradited after fleeing Iran in 2008, a Kurdish media outlet has reported.

Kayhan Yosfi's asylum request has been refused by Swedish authorities who seek his deportation to Bulgaria.