Annan urges parties to 'lower temperature' in stand-off over Iran

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today called for a cooling of the rhetoric in the stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme, saying he hoped Security Council discussions would give new momentum toward a solution.

Annan’s comments, in an advance text of a speech at Japan’s prestigious Tokyo University, came as the dispute over Iran grew more heated with its president’s mocking dismissal of a package of incentives to suspend uranium enrichment.