Israel’s prime minister today urged the international community to get tougher against Iran, saying that without a “clear red line,” Tehran will not halt its nuclear programme.

Talks between Iran and six world powers snagged over conflicting proposals about Tehran’s nuclear programme, a tug-of-war that pits international concerns about the Islamic republic’s potential to build atomic weapons against enforcing crippling sanctions on its people.

Political tensions between the US and Iran in and around the Persian Gulf gave way to photos of rescued fishermen happily wearing US Navy baseball caps after a dramatic rescue from the clutches of Somali pirates.

Iran’s navy says it has test-fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile during a drill in international waters near the strategic Strait of Hormuz – the passageway for one-sixth of the world’s oil supply.

The US has delivered a formal request to Tehran for the return of a US surveillance drone captured by Iranian armed forces but is not hopeful that Iran will comply.

Diplomats working at the Iranian embassy in London have until this afternoon to leave the UK

IRANIAN police arrested 17 boys and girls over a water fight at a seaside park in the Islamic republic’s south, a senior judicial official has said.

American Sarah Shourd has been released after more than a year in prison in Iran, television reports in the country claimed today.

Iran dismissed the latest United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme as “annoying flies” and “a used tissue”, after the US and its allies scored a long-sought victory.

SUICIDE attackers detonated three car bombs near embassies in Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 42 people and wounding more than 200 in back-to-back bombings.

Iranian opposition leaders were today warned they could face trial if they do not denounce the anti-government protests sweeping the country.

Iran today claimed a successful test firing of an upgraded version of its longest-range missile which is capable of reaching Israel.

Five sailors including an Irish journalist who were detained after apparently straying into Iranian waters have been released, it was reported today.

CAPTURED Irish sailor David Bloomer is mentally strong and will be helping his fellow yachtsmen during their ordeal in Iran, a friend has said.

A Bahrain-based radio presenter believed to be from Malahide is among five sailors being held captive in Iran after their yacht was stopped by the Iranian navy as it sailed from Bahrain to Dubai.

Norway has reacted with fury after Iran seized Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi’s medal and other pro-democracy accolades.

Moscow has dashed Iranian hopes that a Russian-built nuclear reactor will be switched on this year, a blow to Tehran amid persistent tension over its nuclear program.

A lawyer for a jailed American journalist in Iran said he is optimistic there will a change in her verdict after her brief appeals hearing.

Iranian and United Nations nuclear officials began a new round of talks after traces of weapons-grade uranium that were found at a university in Tehran, it was reported.

Violence is down 55% in Iraq since the US troop build-up began this summer, but it is unclear what role Iran played in the downturn, US officials said today, tempering recent optimism about Tehran’s waning support for militants with warnings that more needs to be done.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad played down talk of a possible American strike against his country during a visit to Bahrain.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said it "welcomed" today's announcement that the Iranian government would release the 15 detained British sailors and marines.

The sudden release of an Iranian diplomat missing for two months in Iraq raised new hope today that 15 British sailors and marines seized by Iran may soon be freed.

Britain was today facing a new diplomatic crisis with Iran after 15 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines were seized at gunpoint by Iranian warships off Iraq.

Iran took the US, Israel and the UN Security Council to task today, accusing Washington and Jerusalem of threatening military attacks on its nuclear facilities and saying Council pressure on Tehran was illegal.

Iran said it was ready to negotiate over its nuclear ambitions, but refused to budge on demands that it suspend uranium enrichment.

Iraq refuses to be a launching pad for threats against any of its neighbours and at the same time countries surrounding Iraq should not threaten the security of this Arab state, former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, said today amid rising tension between the United States and Iran.

Iran today hailed the execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein as "enforcer of the most horrendous crimes against humanity", but many Iranians said Saddam should have stood trial for invading Iran and Kuwait before being hanged.

The Iranian and British consulates in the southern Iraqi city of Basra came under rocket attack during the night.

The UN chief has got little satisfaction at the close of his trip to Tehran, snubbed by Iran’s leader over international demands to stop enriching uranium and ignored in warnings not to incite hatred by questioning the Holocaust.

The United States is ready to sit at the same table with Iran and other nations for talks on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions if the Islamic republic gives up uranium enrichment, diplomats said today.

Insurgents mounted attacks against Arab and Muslim diplomats in Iraq today, wounding Bahrain’s top envoy in a kidnapping attempt. Pakistan’s ambassador also escaped an assault on his convoy.

IRAN escaped UN censure over its nuclear programme yesterday but Washington, which accuses it of seeking an atomic bomb, said it reserved the right to take the case to the Security Council.

Iran seized three small British navy boats and arrested eight armed crew members today as they patrolled the Shatt al Arab waterway, which forms a southern border with Iraq.

The International Atomic Energy Agency appears to be on the track of new nuclear cover-ups on the part of Iran, diplomats say.

An Irishman kidnapped in Iran returned to the country today and spoke of his terrifying ordeal at the hands of his captors.

FREED kidnap victim Aidan Leahy will complete the first stage of his homecoming when he is handed over to officials at the Irish Embassy in the Iranian capital, Tehran, this morning.

Concern has committed €200,000 and rescue workers to join the international effort to help the community in Bam in Iran, which was destroyed by a massive earthquake yesterday.

An Iranian opposition group said today that Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards have crossed into Iraq where the group is based, killing 10 of its members in clashes that lasted several days.

An Irish army officer was among three UN observers and two armed peacekeepers assaulted by Hezbollah gunmen in southern Lebanon yesterday, UN officials said.