Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi lauded the justice-seeking uprisings of the Tunisian and Egyptian people against the tyranny of their rulers, and said the era of the world arrogance has come to an end.

A top U.S. State Department official says Iran's efforts to exercise "hard power" in Iraq have failed, prompting Tehran to try to influence its western neighbor through the use of "soft power," or more indirect means.

"This year, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be the showcase's special guest and is given a great chance to introduce its culture and publication to the world. Former guests of the book fair were the US, France and Turkey," said [Qatari Culture Minister Mohammad Ibn Abdolaziz] Alkavari.

Iran has barred the mayor of Tehran from traveling to the United States for a ceremony honoring his city's advances in public transport, media reported on Saturday.

Briefly, opening with “I got a hold of your show on the web and I was so impressed with the heart of it,” Jon Stewart began his interview with Kambiz Hosseini and Saman Arbabi, two U.S. Government employees – and U.S. public diplomats – behind “Parazit”, a Voice of America program aimed at Iran.

Sylwia Surdykowska from the University of Warsaw believes learning the Persian language will help achieve a better understanding of Iran’s culture... The Polish are familiar with Persian literature and know of the Persian poets Hafez, Rumi, Khayyam and Sadi, she told the Persian service of IRNA.

Is it possible that Iran's blustering president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, long thought to be a leading force behind some of Iran's most hard-line and repressive policies, is actually a reformer whose attempts to liberalize, secularize, and even "Persianize" Iran have been repeatedly stymied by the country's more conservative factions?