Iranian women seeking to run in the presidential election next month have been told they are not allowed to take part.

World leaders, athletes and left-wing celebrities gathered at a music-filled state funeral honouring Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez today, with multitudes waiting outside the venue.

Venezuela’s opposition says it will not attend the swearing-in of Hugo Chavez’s anointed successor as interim president.

Some marked Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez’s death with tears; others with cheers.

A leading Republican senator’s tweet comparing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a monkey is drawing criticism from a fellow Republican politician as racist.

Earlier this week, as the US returned President Barack Obama to the White House for another four-year term, China’s Communist Party gathered in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to orchestrate a once-in-a-decade leadership transition.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the age of nuclear deterrence was long gone and any country still stockpiling nuclear weapons was “mentally retarded”.

Iran’s parliament is planning to summon President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be questioned over the country’s plummeting currency, state radio reported today.

Iran's president says a new world order needs to emerge, away from American "bullying" and domination.

Iran’s authorities have detained the daughter of influential ex-president and political centrist Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Iran has unveiled an upgraded version of a short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile just weeks after it was test-fired, the country's state media reported.

Israel’s existence is an “insult to all humanity”, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today.

Iran’s government faced criticism yesterday over its response to two earthquakes that killed 306 people with complaints of a lack of tents.

China has urged Iran to take "a flexible and pragmatic approach" in international talks over its nuclear ambitions.

Syrian troops today shelled the central region of Houla where more than 100 people were massacred last week, activists said.

Thirteen bound corpses, many apparently shot execution-style, have been discovered in eastern Syria, days after the massacre of more than 100 people provoked international outrage.

Sacha Baron Cohen stars as General Aladeen and Megan Fox stars as herself in The Dictator.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is eager to attend the Olympic Games in London to support Iranian athletes but says that Britain has a “problem” with hosting him.

Supporters of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been reduced to a small fraction in Iran’s legislature, according to final results from a runoff parliamentary election announced today.

Final results for many constituencies in Iran's parliamentary runoff elections show conservative rivals of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winning a solid majority of seats and cementing their hold on the legislature.

Iran has begun run-off elections for more than one-fifth of parliamentary seats.

Iran's parliament began questioning President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today over a long list of accusations, including mismanaging the nation's economy and challenging the country's supreme leader.

Conservative rivals of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were leading in the race for parliament according to early election results today, an indication the president may face a more hostile house in the remaining 18 months of his second term in office.

Iran's supreme leader has urged Iranians to vote in large numbers as the country holds parliamentary elections today, saying a high turnout would send a strong message to the enemies of the nation.

Afghanistan’s president has appealed for Pakistan’s help in negotiating a peace deal with Taliban militants before a summit today that will also include Iran’s leader.

Iranian authorities will this week crack down on any public protest against the year-long house arrest of opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, an official said yesterday.

Iran is ready to revive talks with the world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said, as Tehran faces tougher sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has finally agreed to increase interest rates to 21%, reversing his opposition to the move economists said was crucial to supporting the Iranian currency.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced capitalism during a speech at Cuba’s University of Havana on the third leg of a trip to highlight friendships with his Latin American allies, most of them thorns in Washington’s side.

Daniel Ortega was sworn in for his third five-year term as president of Nicaragua, shrugging off opposition complaints his re-election was illegal and vowing to govern with moderation.

President Hugo Chavez defended his close ally Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying Iran is facing “US warmongering threats” amid tensions over its nuclear programme.

A jobless man has thrown his shoes at Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to protest at not having received his unemployment benefits.

Iran’s supreme leader has warned Israel and the United States of a tough response if they launch a military strike against it in the row over its nuclear programme.

IRAN won’t retreat “one iota” from its nuclear programme, but the world is being misled by claims that it seeks atomic weapons, president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday in his first reaction since a UN watchdog report that Tehran is on the brink of developing a nuclear warhead.

Iran will not retreat "an iota" from its nuclear programme, president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today as he strongly rejected a UN report claiming that Tehran may be seeking to develop atomic weapons.

Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called the head of the UN’s nuclear agency an American pawn in the run-up to the release of evidence claiming to reveal Tehran’s nuclear weapons programme.

IRAN accused Israel and the United States of seeking world support for a military strike on its nuclear facilities, which Russia warned yesterday would be “a very serious mistake”.

Iran’s parliament is set to call president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for questioning over an economic scandal and his polices.

IRAN’S President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed US accusations that Iranian government agents plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador in the United States.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed US accusations that Iranian government agents plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador in the United States.

IRANIAN leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offered to halt Iran’s production of low-enriched uranium ahead of an address to the UN assembly yesterday.

American diplomats led a walkout at the UN General Assembly today as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a sweeping attack on the United States and major western European nations.

The French and American delegations walked out of the United Nations General Assembly as Iran's president delivered his address today.

IRAN’S judiciary said yesterday the release on bail of two US hikers convicted of espionage was not imminent, rejecting President Ahmadinejad’s announcement they will be freed in a couple of days.