Iran says it will defend against any 'aggression'

Iraq offers to be mediator in crisis between Washington and Teheran

Iranian will defend itself against any military or economic aggression, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Speaking in a news conference in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed al-Hakim, Zarif said his country wanted to build balanced relations with its Gulf Arab neighbors and that it had proposed signing a nonaggression pact with them.