Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has renewed Iran's pledge to continue developing its nuclear program despite limited UN sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran to halt sensitive nuclear activities.

Demonstrators have again protested in front of the United Nations office in Tehran against a UN Security Council resolution imposing limited sanctions on Iran over its nuclear activities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki, on a visit to Kabul today, was warmly received by his Afghan hosts.

Iranian leaders have condemned the U.N. Security Council for imposing sanctions on its controversial nuclear program, vowing to speed up the development of it nuclear capabilities.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote Saturday on a resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program.

Russia is seeking a delay of a U.N. Security Council vote scheduled for Friday on a resolution penalizing Iran for its suspect nuclear program. VOA's Peter Heinlein has details from U.N. headquarters in New York.

Opponents of Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have won nationwide municipal elections held last week, but the Iranian leader appeared unbowed by the results.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told President Bush that he has "some concerns" about a new U.S. law approving a bilateral nuclear deal.

There are tentative signs of progress in the North Korean nuclear talks that have now entered their fourth day in Beijing, but financial sanctions imposed on North Korea by the United States have emerged as a major obstacle to success. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from the Chinese capital.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, on the final day of a Middle East tour, urged world leaders today to step forward in support of moderates against "forces of extremism" in Iran and elsewhere in the region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized Western powers today for trying to punish Iran in the UN Security Council's draft resolution on Iran's nuclear program.

U.S. and North Korean envoys to the six-party talks in Beijing on dismantling the reclusive communist state's nuclear weapons held another one-on-one meeting Wednesday after failing to narrow their differences a day earlier. From the Chinese capital, Roger Wilkison reports that negotiators from China, Japan, Russia and South Korea will later join them to discuss how North Korea can implement a pledge it made more than a year ago to disarm in exchange for aid and security guarantees.