• Iran said yesterday it would not discuss its "obvious right" to master the nuclear fuel cycle but was open to talks that could reassure the West that its atomic plans were not aimed at producing bombs. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini also told a weekly news conference the Islamic Republic's military was "totally prepared to defend the country and Iran is totally prepared for any possible military strike".

• Hamas has handed over the names of Palestinian prisoners it demands Israel to release in exchange for an Israeli soldier seized by Gaza gunmen 10 months ago, the Islamist group said yesterday. These names have been presented to the Egyptian (mediators), who in turn have presented them to the Israeli side," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said. "There is a clear progress in the fact that a list of names has been presented."

• Iran has warned neighbouring Iraq that its failure to secure the release of five Iranians detained there by US forces could impair Tehran's cooperation with Baghdad, a senior official was quoted yesterday as saying. Washington says the five men, detained in January in northern Iraq, are linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and were backing militants. Iran insists they are diplomats, wants them freed and has requested access.

• Sectarian clashes between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims raged unabated in a remote Pakistani tribal region yesterday, and the confirmed death toll in three days of fighting rose to 15, officials said yesterday. The army used helicopter gunships on Saturday to quell fighting between the two sects in Parachinar, the main town in the Kurram tribal region, near the Afghan border.