French President Jacques Chirac called on Iran yesterday to cooperate in nuclear talks or risk having the issue sent to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

Explosives were looted from the Al-Qaqaa ammunitions site in Iraq while outnumbered US troops assigned to guard the materials watched helplessly, soldiers told the Los Angeles Times today.

Demands from the UN atomic watchdog agency that Iran freeze all work on uranium enrichment – technology that can be used for nuclear weapons - were “illegal,” the country insisted today.

IRAN said yesterday that nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei would visit Tehran for talks on Thursday, just two weeks before a deadline for Iran to dispel US-led doubts about its nuclear ambitions expires.

IRAN is “studying positively” a UN agency request to allow unfettered inspections of its nuclear facilities.

By Christopher Torchia, Seoul

North Korea withdrew from the global nuclear arms control treaty today but insisted it had no plans to develop nuclear weapons “at this stage.”

North Korea today agreed to Cabinet-level talks with South Korea to discuss international fears over its nuclear programme.

SOUTH KOREA’s president yesterday said his nation would never tolerate North Korea’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons, as the communist nation began moving fresh fuel rods to a mothballed nuclear reactor.

South Korea will never tolerate its rogue neighbour’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons, President Kim Dae-jung said today.