GENEVA (Reuters) - China has urged Iran to accept a nuclear fuel swap proposal to ease demands for new sanctions on Tehran, a senior Chinese diplomat said, adding that Beijing wants "every avenue" tried before considering sanctions. China faces mounting demands from Western powers to approve a proposed United Nations resolution imposing new sanctions on Tehran, which they say wants the ...

Iran has said it is ready for a one-shot nuclear fuel exchange on its own soil, edging closer to the conditions of a plan drawn up by the UN atomic watchdog last year as major powers mulled a new round of sanctions. Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi revealed the new offer in an interview published by hardline daily ...

Nobel prizewinner Shirin Ebadi on Tuesday accused German engineering giant Siemens and Finnish telecoms firm Nokia of supplying Iran with technology to help it suppress democratic dissent. Speaking on France Culture radio, the exiled Iranian feminist and 2003 Nobel peace laureate, said Western firms are undermining opposition to Tehran's authoritarian regime and called for international economic sanctions. "Unfortunately, a ...

Iranians jumped over bonfires and set off firecrackers on Tuesday in the annual Persian fire festival but were forced to keep celebrations at a low key as riot police and militiamen on motorbikes fanned out to quell possible opposition protests. Witnesses told AFP that families ventured outside in small groups to celebrate the ritual in their neighbourhoods, despite all-powerful supreme ...