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s demands. His comments were part of the moderate Rouhani's efforts to bring around hardliners who claim the deal tramples on Iran...

s greatest diplomatic triumph. Efforts by the US Congress to derail it would, if successful, constitute a self-inflicted strategic wound even more myopic than its vote to endorse the 2003 invasion of Iraq. That vote, after all, was only endorsing a mistaken policy set in the White House. This one would be a rebellion against a White House decision that promises great benefits to the United States....

s disputed nuclear activity. In November, Iran and the IAEA agreed a co-operation pact, including six initial steps to be taken by the country over the following three months, including access to two nuclear-related facilities and the provision of information. They said after a review meeting last month they would meet again in Tehran on 21 January to discuss the next steps under the framework agreement....

A nation forced to erase its personal history is condemned to a broader historical amnesia and doomed to repeat its mistakes ...

s 'comprehensive agreement' on 20 January Iran will begin eliminating its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in eight days' time, after negotiators in Geneva reached an agreement on how to implement the interim nuclear deal reached in November . The six-month deal, under which Iran has agreed to freeze and even curb some nuclear activities in return for an easing of sanctions , will come into force...

s disappearance was raised by the foreign secretary, William Hague, with his then counterpart in Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi. Yazdi's wife, Atena, has accused the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of providing Iranian prosecutors with detailed personal information about her husband, including the address from which she believes he was abducted on 25 June. Iran's state general inspection organisation, which...

The enemy's smile shouldn't be taken seriously,' says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as talks resume in Geneva Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has lashed out at the "Great Satan" America before new nuclear talks began on Thursday, saying recent negotiations had exposed Washington's hostility towards his country. As senior Iranian and western diplomats gathered in Geneva to discuss the implementation...

s refusal to back the Syrian government in the civil war, and amid its current political isolation following the demise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The rebuilding of the relationship is likely to dismay Israel and the US, which had welcomed the weakened ties between Gaza's rulers and their powerful political, financial and military sponsors. "Relations between us are now almost back to how...

s moves to improve contact with the west Iranian judicial authorities have accused a group of recently jailed activists and bloggers of having links with the BBC and its past training courses. At least 16 Iranian nationals, including employees of the technology website Narenji, were arrested in December in the southern province of Kerman as part of another crackdown by the intelligence forces of the...

s armed forces. Or should be. As the House of Commons defence committee has just pointed out , despite its long-standing promise, the government has yet to draw up a coherent national security strategy explaining Britain's role in the world and the purpose and uses of military force. Britain's chief of defence staff, General Sir Nick Houghton, made it clear he wanted to stimulate a serious debate in...

s reformist movement, Mohammad Khatami, the painter Aydin Aghdashloo, the economist Saeed Laylaz and the actors Alireza Khamseh and Niki Karimi have also backed the petition. Although sanctions have not directly targeted medicine imports, a combination of banking and trade restrictions and the plummeting value of Iran's currency mean hundreds of thousands of Iranians with serious illnesses, especially...

expel militants' ahead of military offensive but fails to explain how or when Iraq's prime minister has urged people in the besieged city of Falluja to drive out al-Qaida-linked insurgents to pre-empt a military offensive that officials said could be launched within days. In a statement on state television, Nouri al-Maliki, a Shia Muslim whose government has little support in Sunni-dominated Falluja,...

s newly appointed chargé d'affaires, Ajay Sharma, travelled to Iran in a first diplomatic visit by a UK envoy since London withdrew all staff from Tehran after the storming of its embassy in 2011. Although embassies still remain closed in their respective capitals, Britain and Iran have upgraded ties and taken significant steps towards reopening their missions since Rouhani took office. David Cameron...

s fighting in Fallujah and Ramadi, or in the latest bombing raids on Aleppo , it is that their deaths will serve no rational purpose. The minds of the men on the ground, intimately involved in this carnage, are muddled by fear, prejudice, passion, and the desire for revenge – excuses of sorts. But what of those who preside over this bloodshed from distant capitals? No reference here to Washington:...

A surprising presidential election and historic deal with the west made 2013 a crucial year for Iran. But with nuclear talks reaching a crunch in 2014, it's time to find out how much you know about the Islamic republic ...

s point of view. With that in mind, it may be worth pondering some inconvenient truths that would cause a fair-minded Iranian to doubt congressional wisdom. The assertion that US policies are driven by a concern for human rights is not consistent with the history of US-Iran relations. As the CIA now admits , it overthrew a democratically elected Iranian government in 1953 and restored Shah Mohammed...

Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid, leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, believed to be behind November attack in Beirut Lebanese authorities have reportedly captured a militant leader suspected of leading a group that claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Beirut, in November. Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid is believed to be the leader of the al-Qaida-inspired Abdullah Azzam Brigades,...

s atomic energy agency had said the country is building a new generation of centrifuges for uranium enrichment but that they need more tests before being mass-produced, apparently trying to counter internal criticism of its deal with world powers. Under an agreement made last month in Geneva, Iran promised not to bring new centrifuges into operation for six months, part of temporary limitations on...

s Mujahedin of Iran, which opposes Tehran regime, that people were killed at Camp Liberty The UN has condemned a rocket attack on a camp housing an Iranian exile group near Baghdad. On Thursday, rockets were fired at Camp Liberty, home to members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), the militant wing of a Paris-based Iranian opposition group. The group said three residents were killed and more...

Majid Majidi's extravagant new film about the Prophet Muhammad is viewed with deep cynicism by a motion picture industry starved for funds ...