Iran's Supreme Leader has accused his country's enemies of meddling in recent protest rallies, as the reported death toll reached 20.

Iran's president Hassan Rouhani has said people are free to protest in his first comments since widespread demonstrations against the government began.

A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran’s weak economy have swept into Tehran, with students and others chanting against the government just hours after hard-liners held their own rally in support of the clerical establishment.

Iran's supreme leader has described Donald Trump as "mentally retarded" as he urged Europe to do more to back the 2015 nuclear deal after the US president refused to re-certify the pact.

If the US president scuppers the nuclear deal, Iran, a proud, resource-rich nation, which also has a large uranium stockpile, will not capitulate, says Seyed Hossein Mousavian.

Iran has successfully launched a satellite-carrying rocket into space on, according to the country's state media.

The Trump administration has again told Congress that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal, but insisted Tehran would face consequences for breaching "the spirit" of the agreement.

America’s global re-engagement should be welcomed, but not through a military lens. Diplomacy, not fighting, brings peace, says Carl Bildt.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at Iran yesterday for staging a Holocaust-themed cartoon contest that mocked the Nazi genocide of six million Jews during World War II and said the Islamic Republic was busy planning for another one.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

Iran test-fired two ballistic missiles yesterday with the phrase “Israel must be wiped out” written in Hebrew on them, state media reported, a show of strength by the Islamic Republic as US Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel.

The United States has imposed sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missile testing, even as President Barack Obama hailed the release of five Americans from Tehran’s custody and a nuclear deal he hopes will stand among his lasting foreign policy achievements.

Somalia said it has cut diplomatic ties with Iran amid ongoing tensions between the Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia.

Iran’s president has said that Saudi Arabia cannot “cover up” its crime of executing a leading Shi’ite cleric by severing diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic.

The United States has ramped up its support for Syria’s opposition with a pledge of nearly $100m in fresh aid.

President Barack Obama and Iran’s foreign minister shook hands when they ran into one another on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Royal Dutch Shell will repay a $2bn (€1.7bn) debt to the National Iranian Oil Company when sanctions on Iran are lifted and will consider investing in the country’s vast energy sector, Shell’s boss for new business said.

Iran will remain closed to US influence and continue to oppose US policies in the Middle East after its nuclear deal with big powers, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday, noting either country can still block the accord.

Iran’s top diplomat began a three-nation regional tour yesterday aimed at deepening ties with Arab neighbours following the conclusion of the Islamic Republic’s historic nuclear deal with world powers.

Benjamin Netanyahu has stepped up his criticism of the US-led nuclear deal with Iran. 

It is hard to picture Iran’s nuclear talks with world powers without the beaming face of foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who, in reaching a deal, has shown the power of what Iranians call ‘smile diplomacy’.

Iran nuclear talks passed their second deadline in a week yesterday, casting new questions about the ability of world powers to cut off all Iranian pathways to a bomb through diplomacy. But the parties agreed to continue their talks.

Oil prices have bounced back from three-week lows, with US refined fuels markets leading the rally on bets for strong summer demand, even as Greece’s move towards a debt default threatened to jolt global markets.

Iran’s top leader yesterday stopped short of giving his endorsement to the framework nuclear deal struck last week between Tehran and world powers, while the country’s president warned separately that Tehran’s approval of a final deal depends on the immediate lifting of all sanctions related to its controversial nuclear programme.

A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator has urged world powers to find a “common position” to achieve a “balanced” final nuclear deal with the Islamic republic as a deadline for negotiations looms.

Talks are underway in high-level negotiations to limit Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for easing crippling sanctions on the Islamic republic’s economy.

An Iranian-British woman who took part in a demonstration in Tehran against a ban on women attending some men’s sporting events was jailed for a year for spreading anti-state propaganda, Iranian media said.

Eleven people have been arrested in Iran after allegedly sending text messages deemed insulting to the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, an Iranian newspaper said.

With the rise of Islamic militancy in the shape of the Islamic State, it is important to remember that the causes of this extremism are both internal and external, writes TP O’Mahony

US Secretary of State John Kerry and fellow foreign ministers are attempting to advance troubled nuclear talks with Iran as a deadline looms for a pact meant to curb programmes Tehran could turn to making atomic arms.

America is deploying up to 275 troops to Iraq to protect the US embassy and other interests and is considering sending special forces soldiers as the country struggles to repel a rampant uprising.

An Iranian mother spared the life of her son’s convicted murderer with an emotional slap in the face as he awaited execution with the noose around his neck, a newspaper reported.

Iran has agreed to open its nuclear activities to greater purview for UN experts seeking to revive their probe into suspicions that Tehran might have worked on atomic weapons.

The UN secretary-general has withdrawn his invitation to Iran to join this week’s Syria peace talks, saying he is “deeply disappointed” by Iran’s statements today.

Iran has started to shut down its most sensitive nuclear work as part of a landmark deal struck with world powers, state media said today.

WHEN I campaigned to become President of Iran, I promised to balance realism and the pursuit of the Islamic Republic’s ideals — and won Iranian voters’ support by a large margin.

AS 2014 begins, there is no more important question in world diplomacy than this: Has Iran changed?

Iran has pulled out of talks with six world powers in protest at the expansion of US sanctions, saying the blacklisting of more entities violates the spirit of a groundbreaking agreement over Tehran’s atomic programme.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Along with his grip on Iran’s politics and its military, the Reuters investigation into Setad shows there is a third dimension to his power: economic might.

AFTER feverishly trying to derail the international community’s nuclear deal with Iran in recent weeks, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has little choice but to accept an agreement that he has derided as deeply flawed.