Tehran - Iran on Friday hailed Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his row with Israeli President Shimon Peres over the Gaza Strip at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"We thank Mr Erdogan and hail what he did in Davos," said former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani at a Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran. "This attitude exploded in the world like a bomb."

Tehran - Iran expects US President Barack Obama to adopt a fair and rational approach toward the Islamic state, former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said at a Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran.

"Repeating the policies by [former US president George W] Bush would not solve anything, but the new administration should adopt a fair and rational approach toward Iran," said Rafsanjani, who still plays an influential role in Iran's political scene as head of the Experts Assembly, the country's highest clerical body.

Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday said that if the changes proclaimed by his US counterpart were serious, Tehran would welcome them.

"If the changes mentioned (by Obama) were truly serious and basic, then we would welcome them, but if there was only a change of rhetoric or tactics, then nothing would change," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the city Kermanshah in western Iran.

US President Obama on Monday said "if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us."

Tehran - Tehran on Tuesday issued a reserved response to remarks by US President Barack Obama that his administration would be willing to engage in diplomacy with Iran on its controversial nuclear programme.

Government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said Iran would rather wait for "practical changes" by the new US government and expected a change in US policies towards Iran including a moving away from "imperialistic" policies.

US President Obama on Monday said "if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us."

Tehran  - Following a dispute between the Iranian Football Federation (FFI) and a popular television presenter, football fans on Monday night voted in favour of the presenter in a text message survey.

Adel Ferdowsipour, the country's most famous football commentator and presenter of the popular football programme 90, got into a dispute with the FFI earlier this month after he made critical remarks about the federation's inefficiency in managing the football affairs.

Tehran  - Tehran on Monday harshly condemned the European Union foreign ministers for removing the Iranian opposition group People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI) from their list of terrorist organizations.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a press statement that the EU has decided to make "friendship and cooperation with terrorists" who have been involved in several terrorist operations and killings of innocent people.