Iran

Iran’s president is set to use a speech at a leading US university to challenge George W Bush at a time of high tensions with Washington over his country’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The US military detained an Iranian in northern Iraq, sparking a new row with Iran which insisted the man held was part of a business delegation.

President Nicolas Sarkozy reaffirmed that France does not want a war with Iran over its nuclear program, but he renewed his allegations against Iran once again.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a message on Thursday extended his congratulations to Malta’s president, government and nation on the country’s national day.

Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) warned West against any invasion of Iran, and stressed that the Iranian nation would stand up to any possible aggression by hegemonic powers, alluding to the US and its allies.

Iran on Thursday successfully tested two more domestically-built fighter jets from its Azarakhsh (Lightning) generation and the new planes, named Saeqeh (Thunderbolt), will be displayed to the public during a military parade on National Army Day on Saturday.

Iran has condemned the murder of a lawmaker and five others in a Lebanon car bombing, saying the blast was aimed at causing instability ahead of a crucial presidential vote.

Iran has released Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American arrested on charges of harming national security earlier this year.

Iran is testing Western intentions by working with the UN atomic watchdog to resolve a nuclear row but the opportunity for such cooperation may not be repeated, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday.

French oil group Total is still in discussions with Iranian partners on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project for gas extracted from the South Pars field, but added political issues could cause problems for the company.