Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ruled out even a brief halt in Iran's nuclear program, saying Thursday it would hand a victory to the country's enemies and undercut the Islamic state's goal of becoming a world power.
Iran and the United States meet Monday in Baghdad for talks on stabilizing Iraq amid escalating differences on that issue and a host of others.
Human Rights Watch today reported the disappearance of another U.S. citizen believed to have been detained during a visit to Iran.
Moktada al-Sadr has quietly returned to Iraq after four months in Iran, according to U.S. intelligence reports.
Iran's nuclear work is nearing a "peak," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday, while the U.N. atomic watchdog chief said Tehran was probably at least three years from making atom bombs even if it chose to do so.
A dual U.S. and Iranian citizen who visited Iran this year has not been heard from since March and a California institute he is affiliated with said on Thursday it was concerned about his whereabouts.
President Bush said Thursday the leaders of China and Russia "have got to understand" that they and the world will suffer if Iran is allowed to join the roster of nuclear-armed nations.
US President George W. Bush said Thursday that he would work with European allies, Russia, and China to toughen sanctions on Iran for its defiance of UN demands to rein in its suspect nuclear program.
President George W. Bush said on Thursday the United Nations should strengthen sanctions against Iran over its defiance of international pressure to curb its nuclear program.
Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in three to eight years, the head of the UN atomic watchdog said Thursday, while warning the West against military action to stop countries becoming nuclear powers.