Ali Larijani

A Foreign Ministry official said Sunday that Iran's former nuclear negotiator, considered a relative moderate, would attend talks in Rome this week even though he had left his post. Officials on Saturday announced that Ali Larijani had resigned as Iran's top nuclear negotiator and would be replaced by a loyalist to hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

TEHRAN -- A key ally of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been released from jail, Iranian news services reported Wednesday, the latest development in a case that has highlighted internal political squabbles in advance of June's presidential elections. Saeed Mortazavi, a trusted presidential aide, was arrested Monday, reportedly on corruption charges. There has been no official explanation of why Mortazavi was arrested or why he was released. But the case has generated considerable interest in Iran as the nation prepares for the elections.

TEHRAN -- A key ally of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been released from jail, Iranian news services reported Wednesday, the latest development in a case that has highlighted internal political squabbles in advance of June's presidential elections. Saeed Mortazavi, a trusted presidential aide, was arrested Monday, reportedly on corruption charges. There has been no official explanation of why Mortazavi was arrested or why he was released. But the case has generated considerable interest in Iran as the nation prepares for the elections.

The war of words between Tehran and Washington intensified Sunday, with Iran's supreme leader crediting the "unified resistance" of the Iraqi people with having forced the U.S. military out of Iraq. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the U.S. withdrawal would constitute "golden pages" in Iraq's history, reported Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency. "Despite the U.S. military and political presence in Iraq, and Washington's pressures on the country, all Iraq people ... said, 'No, to U.S.,' " Khamenei declared in a Tehran meeting with Massoud Barzani, president of Iraq's Kurdish region.

The powerful speaker of Iran's parliament warned Wednesday that his nation could take drastic steps in response to economic, political and military pressure meant to halt controversial parts of its nuclear program. Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament and a former nuclear negotiator, said there was "only a little time left" for talks before Iran would make unspecified moves that the West would regret. Larijani, who is close to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, did not specify what Iran would do. But Tehran's options include kicking out International Atomic Energy Agency monitors now keeping an eye on Iran's nuclear program or stepping up its uranium enrichment program to produce weapons-grade material.

The war of words between Tehran and Washington intensified Sunday, with Iran's supreme leader crediting the "unified resistance" of the Iraqi people with having forced the U.S. military out of Iraq. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the U.S. withdrawal would constitute "golden pages" in Iraq's history, reported Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency. "Despite the U.S. military and political presence in Iraq, and Washington's pressures on the country, all Iraq people ... said, 'No, to U.S.,' " Khamenei declared in a Tehran meeting with Massoud Barzani, president of Iraq's Kurdish region.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad escalated an unusually public confrontation within the country's leadership Saturday by firing three Cabinet ministers, defying Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his loyalists, who had warned him the move would be unconstitutional. Ahmadinejad accepted the resignation of the ministers of oil, welfare, and mines and industries as part of a plan to reshape the government by eventually merging eight of the country's ministries into four, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency and letters posted to his own website.

Nearly a month later, she can't erase images of the dying young man from her mind. All but two of his upper teeth had been knocked out. His nails had been pulled out. His head had been bashed in. His kidneys had stopped working. But what most disturbed her, she said, were the stitches around his anus -- a sign, the nurses told her, that he had been raped. Iranian reformist websites and activists in recent days had identified 19-year-old Mohammad K. as one of the protesters arrested during Iran's postelection unrest, locked up in the Kahrizak detention facility and severely beaten.

A powerful rival to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected speaker of parliament Wednesday, clearing the way for a potential challenge to the hard-line head of state before 2009 presidential elections. Ali Larijani, Iran's well-connected former chief nuclear negotiator, made it immediately clear that he would play a broad role in vital matters usually dominated by Ahmadinejad.

The two Middle Eastern powers have been battling for preeminence in the Muslim world for decades but the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate a Saudi Arabian ambassador has heightened the tension between them during a time of intense regional upheaval. The new drama has arisen as Saudi Arabia and Iran seek to outmaneuver each other in matters such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the future of Iraq and the bloody political uprisings sweeping much of the region. Their mistrust, fueled in part by sectarian strain, is sharpened by Iran's nuclear development program and Saudi Arabia's long-standing ties to the U.S., Tehran's most potent enemy.

The two Middle Eastern powers have been battling for preeminence in the Muslim world for decades but the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate a Saudi Arabian ambassador has heightened the tension between them during a time of intense regional upheaval. The new drama has arisen as Saudi Arabia and Iran seek to outmaneuver each other in matters such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the future of Iraq and the bloody political uprisings sweeping much of the region. Their mistrust, fueled in part by sectarian strain, is sharpened by Iran's nuclear development program and Saudi Arabia's long-standing ties to the U.S., Tehran's most potent enemy.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad escalated an unusually public confrontation within the country's leadership Saturday by firing three Cabinet ministers, defying Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his loyalists, who had warned him the move would be unconstitutional. Ahmadinejad accepted the resignation of the ministers of oil, welfare, and mines and industries as part of a plan to reshape the government by eventually merging eight of the country's ministries into four, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency and letters posted to his own website.

Nearly a month later, she can't erase images of the dying young man from her mind. All but two of his upper teeth had been knocked out. His nails had been pulled out. His head had been bashed in. His kidneys had stopped working. But what most disturbed her, she said, were the stitches around his anus -- a sign, the nurses told her, that he had been raped. Iranian reformist websites and activists in recent days had identified 19-year-old Mohammad K. as one of the protesters arrested during Iran's postelection unrest, locked up in the Kahrizak detention facility and severely beaten.

The powerful speaker of Iran's parliament warned Wednesday that his nation could take drastic steps in response to economic, political and military pressure meant to halt controversial parts of its nuclear program. Ali Larijani, the speaker of Iran's parliament and a former nuclear negotiator, said there was "only a little time left" for talks before Iran would make unspecified moves that the West would regret. Larijani, who is close to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, did not specify what Iran would do. But Tehran's options include kicking out International Atomic Energy Agency monitors now keeping an eye on Iran's nuclear program or stepping up its uranium enrichment program to produce weapons-grade material.

A powerful rival to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected speaker of parliament Wednesday, clearing the way for a potential challenge to the hard-line head of state before 2009 presidential elections. Ali Larijani, Iran's well-connected former chief nuclear negotiator, made it immediately clear that he would play a broad role in vital matters usually dominated by Ahmadinejad.

A Foreign Ministry official said Sunday that Iran's former nuclear negotiator, considered a relative moderate, would attend talks in Rome this week even though he had left his post. Officials on Saturday announced that Ali Larijani had resigned as Iran's top nuclear negotiator and would be replaced by a loyalist to hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday pardoned and released 15 British sailors and marines detained two weeks ago in the Persian Gulf, winning what analysts described as a major propaganda coup that could bolster hard-liners in his regime. British diplomats, caught off guard by the sudden announcement, scrambled to make arrangements for the return of the Royal Navy personnel. A British Airways plane left Tehran before 8:30 this morning with the sailors and marines aboard.

Iran ruled out responding this week to proposed international incentives for suspending its nuclear program, saying the offer was too ambiguous. Ali Larijani, Tehran's top nuclear negotiator, said after meeting with Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, that the "ambiguities must be removed first in order to have serious talks." His comments dashed any hope that Iran would meet today's deadline on an offer aimed at dissuading it from uranium enrichment.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday pardoned and released 15 British sailors and marines detained two weeks ago in the Persian Gulf, winning what analysts described as a major propaganda coup that could bolster hard-liners in his regime. British diplomats, caught off guard by the sudden announcement, scrambled to make arrangements for the return of the Royal Navy personnel. A British Airways plane left Tehran before 8:30 this morning with the sailors and marines aboard.