A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guard and at least 26 others in an area of south-eastern Iran that has been at the centre of a simmering Sunni insurgency, state media reported.

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed a new cabinet purged of critics and packed with loyalists and little-known figures today.

The Iranian parliament began the inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as president today.

Iran’s leaders today declared the country’s parliament elections, which were carried by conservatives, a victory that showed Iranians’ defiance of the West.

Iran's new top nuclear negotiator will hold his first meeting with the EU's foreign policy chief over Tehran's contentious nuclear programme today in Rome.

The Iranian government announced today that its top nuclear negotiator had resigned, a move seen as a victory for hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that could bring about an even tougher stance in ongoing talks.

The top negotiator of Iran’s controversial nuclear programme has resigned, the country’s government spokesman said today.

Russian president Vladimir Putin made a proposal concerning Iran's nuclear programme to Tehran's leader at a private meeting during his brief stay in the country.

A UN nuclear watchdog delegation arrived in Iran today to see if the Tehran government is willing to answer all outstanding questions about its disputed nuclear programme, state television reported.

IRAN has invited an International Atomic Energy Agency team to Tehran to work on clearing up suspicions about its nuclear programme, an IAEA spokeswoman said yesterday.

Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator today said his country was ready to compromise on its contentious atomic programme, but offered no specifics as he headed into a meeting with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, will meet the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency this week, an Iranian nuclear official said today.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, will meet in Lisbon, Portugal, on Saturday for a new round of talks over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, state television reported today.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that it was "too late" to stop Iran's nuclear programme and warned the US and its allies not to push for new UN sanctions.

Iran today said disputes over its nuclear program could be settled in the coming weeks.

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

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator and the European Union’s foreign policy chief are to meet this week in an effort to explore whether there’s room to resume negotiations over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.

A meeting between Iran’s leading nuclear negotiator and the European Union’s foreign policy chief has been postponed, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said today.

With the threat of new UN sanctions looming over Iran, senior European officials met an envoy from Tehran, in what officials described as an attempt to defuse the crisis over the Islamic republic’s refusal to scrap uranium enrichment.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator today warned that a compromise over its controversial nuclear programme was impossible if the West continued to demand Tehran suspend uranium enrichment, Iran’s state broadcasting company reported on its website.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirmed today that his government will attend a major regional conference on Iraq set for this week in Egypt, the Iraqi prime minister's office said.

Top negotiators from Iran are to meet representatives of the major powers seeking to halt parts of its nuclear programme for the first time since February, a European Union official said today.

The European Union today called on Iran to live up to international demands to halt its nuclear programme and return to negotiations.

Iran and Britain have signalled possible movement toward ending the stand-off over 15 detained British sailors and Marines.

Iran said tonight it hoped to resolve the seized British Navy personnel crisis using diplomacy and without putting the captives on trial.

Iran may delay the release of British sailor Faye Turney if Britain takes the issue to the UN Security Council or freezes relations, according to negotiator Ali Larijani.

Iran said today it is considering whether to participate in a Baghdad-organised conference of Iraq's neighbours, which the United States plans to attend.

Iran said it was ready to negotiate over its nuclear ambitions, but refused to budge on demands that it suspend uranium enrichment.

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.

Iran today said it needed time to review a plan that calls for holding off on imposing sanctions if Tehran halts uranium enrichment.

Iran’s president said that UN sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme would not damage the country, and vowed to press ahead with uranium enrichment.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator said the country will push forward immediately with efforts to enrich uranium after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions designed to stop the nuclear efforts, a newspaper reported today.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today voiced hope for a quick resumption of international talks on Iran's nuclear programme, news reports said.

Iranian opinion-makers today welcomed the resignation of the US secretary of defence and the Republican Party's losses in Congress, saying the two events could reduce the chances of a confrontation with the United States over Iran's contentious nuclear programme.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today warned the West sanctions will not stop his government from enriching uranium after a top European negotiator conceded “endless hours” of talks had made little progress and suggested the next stop might be the UN.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana today reacted cautiously to a proposal from a senior Iranian nuclear official that France enrich Iran’s uranium on Iranian soil to satisfy international demands for foreign supervision of the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.

Negotiators for Iran and the European Union failed to reach a deal in their latest round of talks but insisted – without elaborating – they had made progress and “come to some positive conclusions,” Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said.

Negotiators for Iran and the European Union resumed talks over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme in Berlin today, a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said.

The Bush administration said today it was willing to defer seeking UN sanctions against Iran for a few weeks if there is a chance for a diplomatic resolution of a long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear programmes.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator will meet European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana later today in a European capital, Iranian state television reported.

World powers trying to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions are drawing up sanctions if Tehran fails to agree quickly to suspend uranium enrichment and return to negotiations.

Iran is ready to comply – at least temporarily – with a UN Security Council demand that it freeze uranium enrichment and has said so at talks with a senior European negotiator, diplomats said today.

Negotiators were preparing for crucial European-Iranian talks today billed by six world powers as the last chance for Iran to avoid UN sanctions over its nuclear defiance.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani today arrived in the Spanish capital Madrid for talks with Spain’s leaders, the IRNA official news agency said.