Syrian president Bashar al-Assad won a pledge of support yesterday from Iran as his forces tried to choke off rebels in the northern city of Aleppo.

Iran is willing to continue talks with world powers over its nuclear programme until they reach a conclusion, a senior Iranian official said today in a report by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Iranian negotiators have rejected proposals by six world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The UN nuclear agency chief will fly to Tehran over the weekend to sign a deal meant to allow his organisation to resume probing Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.

Iran says it has repeated an offer to the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany to resume talks over the country’s disputed nuclear program.

The European Union said today that world powers have agreed to a new round of talks with Iran over its nuclear programme, as Tehran gave permission for inspectors to visit a site suspected of secret atomic work.

Iran has said it will allow UN inspectors access to a secret military complex where the UN nuclear agency suspects atomic work has been carried out.

An oil embargo against Iran has been agreed as part of EU sanctions over its nuclear programme.

Iran says it has proposed a new round of talks on its nuclear programme with six world powers that have been trying for years to persuade Tehran to freeze aspects of its atomic work that could provide a possible pathway to weapons production.

Iran said differences were narrowing at talks today with six world powers looking for curbs on Tehran’s developing nuclear weapons.

Iran and six world powers today sought to find common ground at talks including Tehran’s nuclear programme.

NUCLEAR weapons only bring disaster and the world would do well to denuclearise, Iran’s foreign minister said yesterday as Tehran opened talks with the West in Geneva over its contested atomic project.

Iran began talks about its nuclear programme with six world powers today.

European Union leaders today adopted a new set of sanctions against Iran in a further effort to stall its disputed nuclear programme.

Iran is designing a new atomic research reactor in another snub to international efforts to curb the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions, officials in Tehran said today.

Iran dismissed the latest United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme as “annoying flies” and “a used tissue”, after the US and its allies scored a long-sought victory.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama vowed yesterday the United States will increase pressure on Iran in a unified global stand, as Tehran said it had persuaded Beijing sanctions were no longer necessary.

Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator has met with senior officials in Beijing for a second day after US reports that China had dropped its opposition to possible new UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

China would not confirm US reports that it had dropped its opposition to possible new UN sanctions against Iran, as Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator met with senior officials in Beijing.

Senior diplomats from Britain and other leading world powers will meet Iran’s chief negotiator today in a fresh attempt to persuade the Tehran regime to come clean about it nuclear programme.

IRAN yesterday agreed to hold talks next month with six world powers on its latest proposals to allay concerns over its nuclear programme, in a move Washington welcomed as an “important first step”.

Iran faced more world condemnation today after parliament backed the Cabinet appointment of a man wanted for the bombing of a Jewish centre in Argentina.

IRAN has prepared an “updated nuclear proposal” and is ready to hold negotiations with world powers, state-run television has quoted the Islamic Republic’s chief nuclear negotiator as saying.

IRANIAN authorities have freed 140 people detained in street protests over last month’s disputed election and the supreme leader ordered a jail closed amid opposition claims of prisoner abuse.

Iran’s response to an incentives package aimed at defusing a dispute over its nuclear programme is unacceptable, US officials said, making the prospects of new sanctions against the country more likely.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that George Bush sent a “message of confrontation” during his recent trip to the Middle East.

TALKS between Iran and the European Union broke up yesterday without compromise on Tehran’s refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, and the top EU foreign policy envoy said he was disappointed at Tehran’s refusal to budge.

Iran’s deputy nuclear negotiator abruptly cancelled a meeting with his EU counterpart today, saying he was ill.

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.

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.