The UAE, angered by the Iranian President's visit to a Gulf island both countries claim, warned yesterday that the dispute could not "go on forever" and urged Tehran to agree to talks or international arbitration.

President Barack Obama warned he should be taken seriously when he says he would consider military action to stop Iran getting a nuclear weapon.

Iran's supreme leader has urged Iranians to vote in large numbers as the country holds parliamentary elections today, saying a high turnout would send a strong message to the enemies of the nation.

Iran's nuclear ambitions could plunge the world into "a new Cold War" with the Middle East, Foreign Secretary William Hague warned today.

Combined show of strength aimed at bringing Tehran back to the negotiating table over nuclear concerns

Neither the European Union nor the United States appear to want the confrontation with Iran over its nuclear programme to escalate to a point where air strikes become inevitable. The constant refrain from officials, privately, in London, Paris and Washington is that they are "one hundred per cent behind a diplomatic rather than a military solution".

Analysts say growing tensions between Iran and Britain may be behind the explosion

The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took gleeful advantage of the riots that have convulsed Britain, decrying the UN and human rights groups for their "silence" on the police response and demanding that the Security Council take action against David Cameron's government.

In The Golden Cage, Nobel peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi quotes Alì Shariati, an Iranian intellectual who died in mysterious circumstances a year before the Islamic Revolution: "If you can't eliminate injustice, at least tell everyone about it." Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer, former judge and one of the world's leading human-rights activists, has dedicated her life to doing just that.

No offer from world powers can persuade Iran to stop enriching uranium, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday, dismissing the key demand of countries that fear Tehran is developing nuclear weapons.

Iran's Parliament declared yesterday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad acted illegally by declaring himself caretaker oil minister and referred the case to the judiciary, increasing pressure on him to quit the post.

Iran's parliament has voted to refer President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the judiciary over what politicians say is a violation of the constitution.