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The head of Iran’s air defence said the aim of the exercises was to thwart aerial reconnaissance and air attacks.

Another official warned Tehran would retaliate with a missile strike on Tel Aviv, if it was attacked by Israel.

Iran is under intense pressure over its nuclear programme, which critics say is intended to produce nuclear weapons.

The US and Israel have not ruled out the prospect of a military attack to prevent Iran developing nuclear bombs. Tehran insists its programme is peaceful.

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PARIS — Senior officials from Western powers discussed the possibility of new sanctions on Iran on Friday for flouting the United Nations Security Council’s demands and expressed disappointment that Iran had not yet accepted a draft agreement to export most of its enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.

The officials met in Brussels to discuss where matters stand with Iran and the possibility of new sanctions should Iran continue to play for time. While a joint statement after the meeting was expressed in diplomatic language, the meeting itself was a sign of exasperation with Iran.

Even President Obama, who has been most willing to give Iran time to decide on the proposal, as a means to broader negotiations with the United States, said Thursday in South Korea that because Iran had not agreed to the proposal, the United States would begin “developing a package of potential steps that we could take that will indicate our seriousness to Iran.”

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But the latest report on Iran’s nuclear programme by the agency appeared to reject Iran’s account of how and when it had decided to build the Qom enrichment plant and implied that it believed Iran was hiding the construction of other facilities.

The report provides new evidence that the Qom enrichment facility was constructed on one of many sites where tunneling had been prepared as early as 2002 to protect various kinds of facilities from a possible U.S. air attack.

The apparent Iranian decision to begin preparations for a U.S. attack on Iran in 2002 came after President George W. Bush had declared in his Sep. 20, 2001 speech to a joint session of Congress that any nation that “continues to harbor or support terrorism” would be regarded as a “hostile regime” and then named Iran as part of the “Axis of Evil” with Iraq and North Korea in January 2002.

The new evidence contradicts the U.S. charge that Iran had been working on constructing a covert enrichment plant for several years – well before March 2007, when Iran announced that it would no longer inform the agency of new facilities as soon as the decision had been made to construct them.

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The former diplomat, now an associate fellow at international think-tank Chatham House, was speaking as a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog expressed concerns that Iran may have other secret nuclear plants following the discovery of a facility hidden in a mountain near Qom.

Despite concerns that the site may only be capable of producing enriched uranium for weapons – rather than nuclear energy – Sir Richard urged continuing international dialogue to uncover the truth.

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The Tehran Justice Department said those facing the death penalty were members of “terrorist and opposition groups”, state TV reported.

It was not immediately clear if they included the three people sentenced to death in October. No names were given.

The disputed presidential election in June sparked mass opposition protests.

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A 12-member team reporting to the chief prosecutor will scour websites with a view to pressing charges against those judged to be “spreading lies” and “insults” against the Islamic system. Members will include police and personnel from other, unspecified, parts of Iran’s security apparatus.

The move is seen as partly targeting Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the two defeated reformist candidates in June’s disputed presidential election, as well as political activists.

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Federal prosecutors in Manhattan began legal action on Thursday to seize properties in Queens and across the country where several mosques are located in a broad move against a nonprofit organization that was accused of illegally providing money and other services to Iran.

The organization, the Alavi Foundation, owns the land on which the mosques sit, as well as a majority interest in an office tower at 650 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, which has also been slated for seizure by the government.

The authorities accused the Alavi Foundation of spending millions of dollars to obtain and develop the properties, in violation of federal laws that ban trade with Iran.

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“The one who’s bluffing is Iran, which is trying to play with cards they don’t have,” Ayalon told the news network. “All the bravado that we see and the testing and the very dangerous and harsh rhetoric are hiding a lot of weaknesses.”

Israel has repeatedly warned the Islamic Republic — and the rest of the world — that it will not allow Iran to complete its nuclear development program and create an atomic weapon to be aimed at the Jewish State.

“If Iranian behavior and conduct continues as they have exhibited so far, it is obvious that their intentions are only to buy time and procrastinate,” Ayalon said. He pointed out that negotiations with Western nations have not resulted in any reduction in Iranian nuclear activities.

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Iran’s army chief says by accusing the Islamic Republic of pursuing a military nuclear program the US government is seeking to escalate its military spending budget.

Speaking on Friday, Iran’s chief of Joint Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi linked the economic downturn in the United States to the government’s high military spending.

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The Iranian army chief added that through spreading such rumors about Iran and its nuclear program the US aims to increase its military budget again.

Addressing US statesmen and people, Firouzabadi said “Iran’s nuclear technology is peaceful and does not have any military objectives.”

The Iranian commander described putting an end to wars and making use of the US military budget for other purposes as the only solution for resolving the crisis in America.

The remarks came as the Department of Labor announced on Friday that the United States economy shed 190,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate crept to a 26-year high standing at 10.2 percent.

“It is in the best interest of Americans to use the strength of their youth and national assets to save their nation,” Firouzabadi said.

Large stretches of the Iranian capital erupted in chaos and violence today as antigovernment protesters and security forces clashed on the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy by radical students.

Amateur videotape also purported to show small, boisterous demonstrations in the Caspian Sea city of Rasht, the southwestern city of Ahvaz and the eastern city of Mashhad.

For the first time in months, there were also credible reports and video footage of a sizable demonstration on the campus of the main university in the northwestern city of Tabriz, the capital of Iran’s ethnic Azeri region and historically a hotbed of political activity.

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