The UN nuclear watchdog voted today to report Syria to the UN Security Council for violating its safeguard agreements, citing Syria’s undeclared construction of a covert nuclear reactor and refusal to supply information.

Iran’s president has confirmed for the first time that a computer worm affected centrifuges in the country’s uranium enrichment programme.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency made a dangerous mistake by criticising Iran for not fully co-operating with it, Tehran’s nuclear chief said today.

Iran has banned two UN nuclear inspectors from entering the country, a state media report said today.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted today that his country has complied with rules of the UN nuclear agency which require that it is informed of any new enrichment facility six months before it becomes operational.

India and the United States have moved significantly closer to implementing a landmark nuclear deal with the approval of an inspection plan by the UN nuclear watchdog.

INDIA’S government survived a hotly contested confidence vote yesterday, clearing the way for it to finalise a landmark nuclear energy deal with the United States.

Iran may be withholding information the UN nuclear watchdog needs to establish whether it tried to make nuclear arms, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

An Iranian official said today that the Islamic republic has increased its production to more than 300 tons of a gas used for uranium enrichment, a semi-official news agency reported.

Three people have been arrested for trying to sell 1kg of an unspecified radioactive material for €700,000, police in Slovakia said tonight.

A REPORT from the UN nuclear watchdog agency yesterday found Iran to be generally truthful about key aspects of its nuclear history, but warned its knowledge of Tehran’s atomic work was shrinking.

RUSSIA yesterday bluntly told the United States it saw no threat from Iran’s ballistic missiles and was perplexed how Washington could use this to justify a planned US defence system in Europe.

Iran’s nuclear negotiator today rejected the possibility of Iran suspending its controversial nuclear enrichment programme.

The UN nuclear agency’s confirmation that Iran has expanded its uranium enrichment program set the stage for difficult negotiations on new UN sanctions, with Britain, the United States and France again likely to seek tougher measures than Russia and China will accept.

Iran has expanded its uranium enrichment programme instead of complying with a UN Security Council ultimatum to freeze it, the UN nuclear watchdog agency said today.

A UN nuclear watchdog report is expected to confirm that Iran is continuing its uranium enrichment activities.

Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator and the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency planned to meet today, just hours before the agency was scheduled to issue recommendations on withdrawing technical aid for some nuclear projects run by Iran.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today launched anniversary celebrations for Iran’s Islamic Revolution with a defiant promise to push ahead with the country’s controversial nuclear programme.

Russia today signalled that it backs a “time-out” proposed by the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency that calls for holding off on imposing UN sanctions if Tehran suspends uranium enrichment.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said today that he was concerned that the UN sanctions on Iran could escalate the stand-off with the US and its European allies.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that Iran was prepared for any possibility in the stand-off with the West over its controversial nuclear activities – a tough reaction to a US military buildup in the Gulf meant as a warning to Iran.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said today he was concerned that UN sanctions on Iran could escalate the stand-off with Western powers over its nuclear programme.

Iran’s parliament today voted to urge the government to “revise” ties with the UN nuclear agency in a move seen as likely to reduce the country’s cooperation with the international atomic authority.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said today that sanctions alone would not resolve the stand-off over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency today called for “incentives” for North Korea to return to the stalled six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions, saying sanctions alone would not resolve security issues in the region.

THE UN nuclear agency’s 35-nation board yesterday denied Iran technical help in building a plutonium-producing reactor, but left room for Tehran to resubmit its request.

A 35-nation meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog agency abruptly adjourned today, as participants tried to bridge differences over a request by Iran for technical help in building plutonium-producing a reactor, diplomats and officials said.

Most participants at a key 35-nation meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog agency have agreed to deny Iran technical aid for its plutonium producing reactor, diplomats at the gathering said today.

Six world powers are ready to offer Iran a new choice of rewards if it gives up suspect nuclear activities or punishment if it should refuse, a gambit that either could defuse a global confrontation with the Islamic state or hasten one.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has declared it pointless for Europe to devise an economic and political incentive package if it required Tehran to stop enriching uranium – effectively pulling the rug from under the latest international diplomatic effort before it was to begin today.

Iran’s top UN diplomat has criticised a resolution demanding that Tehran halt uranium enrichment or face the threat of further action, charging that it is aimed at provoking confrontation rather than resolving the dispute over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Russia today said the Iranian nuclear crisis must be solved under the direction of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, and it called on Iran to co-operate more fully with the organisation.

The state news agency RIA Novosti in Moscow has quoted the Iranian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency as saying Tehran is prepared to cooperate fully with the UN nuclear watchdog.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Berlin today to meet counterparts from the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany on Iran after the council for the first time demanded that Tehran clear up suspicions that it is seeking nuclear weapons.

The UN Security Council has given Iran 30 days to clear up suspicions that it wants to become a nuclear power and key members are already discussing further action if Tehran refuses to suspend uranium enrichment and allow more extensive inspections.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency says a deal on Iran’s suspect nuclear programme could be only a few days away, making Security Council action unnecessary.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator has said in Moscow that Tehran will hold nuclear talks with the European Union before March 6, prior to a meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog.

Iran and Russia today agreed in principle to establish a joint uranium enrichment venture, a breakthrough in talks on a US-backed Kremlin proposal aimed at easing concerns that Tehran wants to build nuclear weapons.

Russia expressed limited hope today as Russian and Iranian officials started talks in Moscow on an offer to enrich uranium for Iran, seen as a final opportunity for the Islamic regime to avoid the threat of international sanctions over Western concerns it is developing nuclear weapons.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today she was “very optimistic” that diplomacy could solve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove surveillance cameras and agency seals from sites and nuclear equipment that go beyond minimal commitments to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty by next week.

Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove surveillance cameras and agency seals from sites and nuclear equipment that go beyond minimal commitments to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty by next week.

Iran today said it was still willing to negotiate with the international community over its nuclear programme – but dismissed its referral by the UN nuclear watchdog to the Security Council.

Senior US and Chinese officials today discussed how best to deal with Iran’s nuclear programme even as China indicated a preference for diplomacy not UN sanctions against Tehran.