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.

The withdrawal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai from the presidential run-off election in Zimbabwe is “understandable” as the poll was unlikely to be free and fair, European Union chiefs said today.

BOTH the UN and Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief, have defended the actions of Irish troops in Chad when armed groups tried to attack refugee camps and NGO compounds at the weekend.

THE EU’s top diplomat said he would hand Iran a generous offer today aimed at resolving a deepening dispute over its nuclear ambitions that has helped push up oil prices to record highs.

Police belatedly stood guard outside the British, US and other Western embassies in Belgrade today after they were attacked overnight by rioters protesting at Kosovo’s independence.

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.

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.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today endorsed the idea of early elections, deepening animosities with Hamas following the Islamic militant group’s violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

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, 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.

The European Union today said it would support the Palestinian government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank and urged Israel to do likewise.

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.

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.

Israeli-Palestinian violence escalated dangerously when Israel killed five militants in airstrikes and hinted Hamas political leaders could be their next target.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet top Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani in Ankara on Wednesday to see if Iran can be persuaded to halt uranium enrichment in exchange for negotiations about economic incentives.

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.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran’s top negotiator resumed discussions on Tehran’s nuclear enrichment programme almost immediately after the announcement that fifteen British sailors and marines would be released.

The European Union has demanded that Iran immediately and unconditionally release 15 British sailors and marines and warned of undefined “appropriate measures” if Tehran does not comply.

The confrontation over Iran’s seizure of 15 British sailors escalated today with Tehran announcing the captured seamen admitted to straying into Iranian territorial waters.

The Palestinian unity government being formed by Hamas and Fatah must clearly state that it recognises Israel, the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said today.

European Union officials said today they were cautiously optimistic about a Palestinian power-sharing deal reached by Hamas and Fatah political leaders in Saudi Arabia, but said it was too early to lift an international aid embargo against the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

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.

The European Union intends to go all out to try reactivate the Middle East peace process in the first six months of this year, the EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Friday, warning that it was crucial to do so before the United States enters its campaign period for the 2008 presidential elections.

New United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon fears that US bombing in southern Somalia could increase hostilities and harm civilians, some of whom are reported to have been killed in the air strikes.

The European Union plans to pull its peacekeepers out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on schedule, despite heightened tension over the upcoming results of key elections, senior officials said today.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will dissolve the Hamas-led government within two weeks if the Islamic militant group does not agree to form a governing coalition with his Fatah Party.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana today embarked on a six-day mission to the Middle East, aiming to breathe new life into stalled peace efforts.

The US is tonight aiming to circulate a revised UN resolution on North Korea, with the US still at odds with China over how strong sanctions against the regime should be for conducting a nuclear test.

The European Union and Nato today condemned North Korea’s nuclear test, saying it endangered peace around the world.

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.

Key European nations are warning other countries that Iran is trying to weaken the international consensus against its contentious nuclear programme by stalling in its response to terms set by six world powers for negotiations, according to a confidential document obtained today by The Associated Press.

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.