A senior U.S. official met Iran's top atomic negotiator for face-to-face talks on Thursday ? the first such encounter in years of big-power attempts to persuade Tehran to freeze a program that could create nuclear weapons.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that Tehran's military advances were not aimed at threatening its neighbours but instead were helping them to progress in similar manner.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran would "blow up the heart" of Israel if it was attacked by the Jewish state or the United States, a Revolutionary Guards official was quoted Friday as saying.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday hailed a US move to create a sea-borne anti-missile shield to ward off Iranian threats in place of a planned system in eastern Europe that angered Russia.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday hailed a US move to create a sea-borne anti-missile shield to ward off Iranian threats in place of a planned system in eastern Europe that angered Russia.

Iran and world powers on Monday held new talks on a uranium enrichment deal which UN watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said got off to a "constructive" start though no breakthrough was announced.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's military accused the United States and Israel of terrorism as it held a funeral on Tuesday for high-ranking commanders killed in the deadliest attack in the Islamic Republic since the 1980s.

Israel releases what it says is new evidence that Iran was behind seized weapons shipment. The Israeli military on Wednesday released documents and photos it said proved Iran was behind a huge shipment of weapons Israeli navy commandos intercepted last week.

Feds play global cat-and-mouse game with smugglers of weapons and equipment bound for Iran. The arrest of a reputed arms dealer known as "The Field Marshal" is the latest success in a global cat-and-mouse game between federal agents and a network of shadowy business figures trying to smuggle weapons and equipment to Iran from the country most determined to stop them: the United States.

Feds play global cat-and-mouse game with smugglers of weapons and equipment bound for Iran. The arrest of a reputed arms dealer known as "The Field Marshal" is the latest success in a global cat-and-mouse game between federal agents and a network of shadowy business figures trying to smuggle weapons and equipment to Iran from the country most determined to stop them: the United States.

Change in Obama approach to missile defense is part of broader strategy for squeezing Iran. The Obama administration's revamped plan for a European missile shield is part of a broad new strategy for squeezing Iran.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday that Iran would confront any attack on the Islamic republic, addressing an army parade which was marred by the reported crash of a military plane.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday that Iran would confront any attack on the Islamic republic, addressing an army parade which was marred by the reported crash of a military plane.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday that Iran's military would "cut off" the hands of those wishing to attack the Islamic republic and repeated his demand that US-led troops leave the region.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Tuesday that Iran's military would "cut off" the hands of those wishing to attack the Islamic republic and repeated his demand that US-led troops leave the region.

Key sites of Iran's nuclear program:

Key sites in Iran's nuclear program. Key sites of Iran's nuclear program:

TEHRAN (Reuters) - The Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Iran would strike Israel's nuclear facilities if the Jewish state attacked it, state television reported.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - The Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Iran would strike Israel's nuclear facilities if the Jewish state attacked it, state television reported.

Iran, a longstanding adversary of Washington, detained three US tourists on Friday after they crossed into the country from Iraqi Kurdistan, CNN reported.