Iran’s supreme leaderdescribed as "stupid and idiotic" Western expectations for his country to curb its missile development, striking a defiant tone ahead of a fresh round of nuclear talks.

Iran and six world powers are in “50 to 60% agreement” on the shape of a nuclear deal meant to crimp any potential Iranian attempt to build nuclear arms in exchange for an end to crippling economic sanctions, the country’s foreign minister said.

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.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers of other major powers converged today to lend their weight to the Iran nuclear talks after envoys reported progress on key issues blocking an interim agreement to curb the Iranian programme in return for limited sanctions relief.

Iran’s Supreme Leader has warned against undermining negotiators engaged in talks with the West over its nuclear programme.

An Iranian actress and political reformer has been jailed for 18 months on security charges in another sign of the tension between Iran’s hard-line judiciary and calls for greater openness by new president Hassan Rouhani.

Iran’s top leader has said that some aspects of Hassan Rouhani’s trip to New York last month were “not appropriate,” but reiterated his crucial support for the president’s policy of outreach to the West.

Iran’s supreme leader has strongly rejected proposals for direct talks with United States on its nuclear programme and other issues.

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

The country is developing its nuclear programme, says Mehdi Khalaji

Iran's Supreme Leader has said sanctions from Western powers will not stop his country's progress, but will only deepen hatred of the West in the hearts of the Iranian people.

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.

Iran's top leader has welcomed comments by President Barack Obama advocating diplomacy and not war as a solution to Tehran's nuclear ambitions, a rare positive signal in long-standing hostile exchanges between Tehran and Washington.

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.

Iran will help any nation or group that confronts the "cancer" Israel, the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said.

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’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.

Iran's president abruptly fired his foreign minister and gave his job to the country's nuclear chief today in the latest sign of a power struggle over its atomic programme.

IRAN has imposed new restrictions on 12 university social sciences deemed to be based on Western schools of thought and therefore incompatible with Islamic teachings, state radio reported.

Iran’s supreme leader sharply denounced the US, accusing it of plotting to overthrow its clerical leadership, in a frosty response to an overture by President Barack Obama for better cultural ties with Iran.

IRAN’S supreme leader and armed forces commander-in-chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday the country does not believe in and is not seeking atomic weapons, state television reported.

Iran’s supreme leader today claimed it was not trying to build nuclear weapons after a damning report by atomic watchdogs said it was actively working on a warhead.

TENS of thousands of hard-line government supporters turned out for state-sponsored rallies yesterday, some of them calling for the execution of opposition leaders as Iran’s police chief threatened to show “no mercy” in crushing any new protests by the pro-reform movement.

Tens of thousands of mourners turned the funeral of Iran’s leading dissident cleric into an anti-government protest today.

Tens of thousands of mourners joined the funeral procession for Iran’s most senior dissident cleric today.

GOVERNMENT supporters rallied across Iran yesterday to protest against an opposition “insult” to the Islamic Republic’s revered founder, with some calling for pro-reform leader Mir Hossein Mousavi to be executed.

POLICE surrounded the campus of Tehran University yesterday, trapping hundreds of students protesting what they said were fabricated images showing the burning of a photo of the revered founder of the Islamic republic.

Iranian Police surrounded the campus of Tehran University today, trapping hundreds of students protesting what they said were fabricated government images showing the burning of a photo of the revered founder of the Islamic republic.

AN Iranian maths student has become an unlikely hero to some of his countrymen for daring to criticise the country’s most powerful man to his face.

An Iranian maths student has become an unlikely hero to some of his countrymen for daring to criticise the country’s most powerful man to his face.

Iran experts at the United Nations’ nuclear monitoring agency believe Tehran has the ability to make a nuclear bomb and worked on developing a missile system that can carry an atomic warhead.

An Iranian pathologist found that the son of a prominent conservative politician’s adviser died from beatings and poor prison conditions, it was reported.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today called for the leaders of the opposition to be prosecuted over Iran's post-election turmoil, stepping up pressure against the pro-reform movement that says he won the election by fraud.

A GROUP of former reformist lawmakers appealed to a powerful clerical body in Iran to investigate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s qualification to rule in an unprecedented challenge to the country’s most powerful man over the post-election crackdown.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s right to rule received an unprecedented challenge from a group of former reformist politicians today.

IRAN’S supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president for a new four-year term, describing him as a “courageous” man but telling him to listen to his critics.

IRAN’S hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned his political rivals that their efforts to drive a wedge between him and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would come to nothing.

IRAN has announced that the first trials of post-election protesters will begin this weekend, as anger grew even among some government supporters over abuse of those detained in the more than six-week-old crackdown.

PRESIDENT Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, already at the centre of a post-election crisis, came under criticism from his own hardline supporters yesterday for appointing a first vice president who once caused an outcry by saying Iranians were friends of Israelis.

Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani today issued a direct challenge to the country’s supreme leader over the disputed election.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sought to disperse the doubt surrounding his re-election in his first major television address since the result, but even as he spoke, opponents went to their rooftops shouting "death to the dictator".

A HARDLINE Iranian cleric called yesterday for the execution of leading “rioters” to teach a lesson to the thousands who have protested against the June 12 presidential election result.