Iranian and Russian engineers have begun loading fuel into Iran's first nuclear power plant, which Moscow has promised to safeguard to prevent material at the site from being used in any potential weapons production.

Tehran has decided where to build 10 uranium-enrichment sites inside protected mountain strongholds and will start construction of the first in March, the Iranian government said.

Consumer spending fell back – and that wasn't because people were saving more for a rainy day, which might have reassured us, as the savings ratio fell too

A five-fold increase in the number of homes officially designated at risk from a lethal gas that seeps out of the ground causing more than 1,000 deaths a year, was announced yesterday.

Iran has banned two UN nuclear inspectors from entering the country, a state media report said today.

Iran will unveil a new advance in its nuclear programme in the coming months, the head of its Atomic Energy Organisation was quoted as saying today, in comments that showed defiance in the face of new UN sanctions.

The UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions on a defiant Iran today over a nuclear programme the West suspects is aimed at developing the means to build atom bombs.

Iran today warned the US to back its nuclear fuel swap offer or lose an "historic" chance of improving relations between the countries.

Prime Minister David Cameron tore into Labour's record in office today, claiming Gordon Brown's administration left the country in an "appalling mess".

Iran intends to go ahead with a deal reached with Turkey and Brazil for a nuclear fuel swap despite a new sanctions resolution against Tehran pending at the United Nations, an Iranian parliamentarian said today.

Turkey and Brazil say no more punishment is needed after brokering nuclear deal

Is this a positive step towards averting a global crisis or a cynical ploy? For those in Israel and the US who are already convinced Iran is building a nuclear weapon (and enriching uranium to that end) the surprise deal announced yesterday will be seen only as a calculated tactic to divide the world, and thus counter Barack Obama's efforts to force Iran to relinquish its nuclear programme via UN sanctions.

Iran has agreed to ship much of its enriched uranium to Turkey in a nuclear fuel swap deal reached with the help of mediation from Brazil and Turkey.