Oil rose after Iran's nuclear accord with world powers left the timing of increased crude supplies from the Opec member uncertain and as Saudi Arabia raised prices for shipments to Asia.

Iran's Foreign Minister said that Tehran would be able to return to its nuclear activities if the West withdraws from a pact that is to be finalised in June.

Pakistan has test-fired a ballistic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead to every part of India. Yesterday's test was another escalation in Islamabad's effort to keep pace with its neighbouring rival's formidable military advancements.

Hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set off for Washington, a group of 180 retired Israeli generals and former top security officials warned that his address to a joint meeting of Congress....

The site in Mecca where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have been born is about to be "buried under marble" and replaced by a huge royal palace.

Shades of Silicon Valley are bubbling up in Tehran, which is home to a growing tech ecosystem, despite significant challenges.

The Nobel Prize of mathematics has been awarded to a woman for the first time, which could encourage more young female mathematicians.

At least 40 people are feared dead after small passenger plane crashed while taking off from an airport near the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that the country is ready to assist Iraq in its battle against extremist Sunni Islamists.

China carries out more executions than any other country, a new report has estimated.

The Lockerbie bombing was ordered by Iran and carried out by Syrian-based extremists, a former Iranian intelligence officer has admitted.

An Iranian man should be sentenced to having his eyes gouged out after pouring acid over a young girl's face leaving her blind, an Iranian court has ruled.

Iran hopes to use a meeting of Opec oil ministers today as a launch pad for its return as a dominant force in global crude markets after months of sanctions.

New Zealand has welcomed the agreement reached in Geneva yesterday aimed at capping Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran has struck a historic nuclear deal with the US and five other world powers, after more than three decades of estrangement,

Iran nuclear talks entered a delicate phase as negotiators tried to fine-tune a draft agreement that would limit Tehran's atomic program in return for easing some sanctions.

Iran's supreme leader has voiced support for the negotiations over his country's nuclear program, but insisted there are limits to the concessions Iran will make in exchange for an easing of the sanctions choking its economy.

An attempt by Iran's reformist President, Hassan Rouhani, to abolish the chant "Death to America" as part of his drive to improve relations with the West has angered hardliners.

With PowerPoint slides and feel-good phrases, Iranian negotiators presented world powers with what they said was a plan to break a decade of deadlock over Tehran's nuclear program.

Britain and Iran are to take a first step towards re-opening their respective embassies, Foreign Secretary William Hague says, adding that Tehran's new leadership is presenting itself "in a much more positive way than in the recent past."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played the spoiler to Iran's attempts to ease relations with the West, calling the Iranian leader "a wolf in sheep's clothing".

Despite soothing assurances from Iran's new leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implored US President Barack Obama to keep punishing sanctions in place against Tehran.

On Sept 18, 1980, two airmen entered Launch Complex 374-7, an underground silo outside Damascus, Arkansas, to service a Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile.

The United States and the other permanent members of the UN Security Council said they were pleased by a new tone and attitude from Iran.

Word of the opening of Iran's blocked social media sites was spread, of course, by social media itself: in celebratory tweets and breathless Facebook posts.