Iran is storing at least 14 million barrels of crude on supertankers in the Gulf, a tanker industry source said on Wednesday, in a strong sign Tehran was complying with an OPEC pledge to cut supply.

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a House panel yesterday that the United States should know in a few months if the Iraqi government is making progress toward peace and whether the United States “is going to have to look at other alternatives and consequences.”

MECCA — In a palace overlooking Islam’s holiest site, rival Palestinian leaders vowed yesterday to work out a power-sharing agreement to avert a civil war, asking their followers to abide by a truce during the marathon talks crucial to the peace process with Israel.