FORMER Iranian president Mohammed Khatami said he may pull out of June’s presidential race to avoid splitting the vote if another reformist candidate can pose a stronger challenge to the country’s hard-line establishment.

At least 15 people were killed and 20 wounded in Iraq today when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a coffee shop east of Baghdad.

Shia worshippers in three Iraqi cities today suffered bombings and ambushes, killing at least 39 people, during the climax of ceremonies marking Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shia calendar.

At least 20 Iraqis were killed in clashes early today in Ramadi, where US ground troops and warplanes have conducted a series of operations over recent days targeting Sunni insurgents, police and medical workers said.