Iran/Afghanistan/Pakistan

MOSCOW - Russia's foreign minister on Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

The IAEA suggested in a report to the U.N. Security Council last month that Iran was stonewalling investigators and possibly withholding information crucial to determining whether it conducted research on nuclear weapons.

George Bush flies into London today with a warning for Gordon Brown not to announce a timetable for a British pull-out from Iraq

The stern message to the Prime Minister was delivered during an exclusive interview with The Observer, and contrasted with praise for Tony Blair

the world is in an 'ideological struggle' and that 'ultimately freedom has to defeat the ideology of hate'.

On Monday, Iran and Iraq signed a Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral defense cooperation. The agreement lays out the basis for an "expansion of defense cooperation between the two countries,"  according to Iran's official IRNA news agency. The agreement is expected to play a role in influencing Baghdad to refuse an American request that US troops be allowed to remain in Iraq past the end of 2008.

n addition to its defense pact with Iraq, Iran signed a similar Memorandum of Understanding with Syria in 2006. Iran and Syria cooperate in supplying and supporting the Hizbullah terrorist organization endeavoring to take over Lebanon, on Israel's northern border.