Tehran - Former Iranian prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi said Tuesday he was prepared to run in the June 12 presidential election, ISNA news agency reported.

Moussavi is a moderate technocrat opposing the policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and considered close to the two other candidates, Mohammad Khatami and Mehdi Karroubi.

Moussavi, born in 1941 in Khameneh, north-western Iran, was prime minister from 1981 and 1989, during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988).

Tehran - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend the 10th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and discuss plans for a gas pipeline linking the two countries with India.

Zardari and his Iranian and Afghan counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hamid Karzai are scheduled to have a trilateral meeting prior to the summit on Wednesday on security in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Tehran - Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend the 10th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and discuss regional political and economic issues.

Iran, Pakistan and Turkey founded the ECO in 1985. Later Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan joined the group.

Karzai is expected to discuss possible Iran-US cooperation in Afghanistan with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prior to the summit on Wednesday.

Tehran - Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to attend the 10th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).

But the visit is overshadowed by press reports in both Turkey and Iran that Gul will deliver a message from US President Barack Obama to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The ECO summit will be held on Wednesday, but Gul and Ahmadinejad were scheduled to meet later Tuesday at the presidential office.

Tehran  - Four Iranian convicts were executed on Monday in Zahedan, the capital of the south-eastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, official news agency IRNA reported.

One of the four was part of the gang that kidnapped a Belgian couple in August 2007 in Sistan-Baluchistan. The gang had demanded the release from prison of the brother of its leader, Ismael Shahbakhsh, in exchange for the Belgians.

The Iranian authorities rejected the demand and arrested one of the kidnappers.

Tehran, March 9 : Archaeologists have found evidence that suggests urbanization entered Iran about 4,500 years ago.

"Archeological excavations and precise date recognition at the historical site of Gohar Tappeh revealed urbanism had entered the region about 4,500 years ago," said Ali Mahforouzi, head of the excavation team of Gohar Tappeh of Mazandaran.

The discovery has also led archeologists to believe that powerful political and economic systems in the region were established around 5,600 years ago.

"If we believe in the theory that urban dwelling occurred after agrarian, we could claim settlement in Mazandaran province dates back to at least 5,600 years ago," said Mahforouzi.