Iran Moving Closer to Nuclear Arms - U.S. General, Reuter, June 26 

Iran is moving closer to nuclear weapons capability and is likely to have such arms at or shortly after the turn of the century, the Army general in charge of U.S. forces in the Gulf said on Thursday.

"I would predict to you that would be sometime at the turn of the century, in the near end of the turn of the century," Army Gen. Binford Peay told reporters….

Peay, who heads the U.S. Central Command with responsibility for American forces in the volatile Gulf, declined to be more specific. But he also voiced concern that Iran's current conventional buildup of submarines and cruise missiles might spark an accidental confrontation in the Gulf….

"Your instincts tell you that that's the kind of speed that they are moving on today across the board in their biological and chemical and nuclear and conventional fields," Peay said….

EU Maintains Policy on Iran Ambassadors, Reuter, June 26 

LUXEMBOURG - European Union foreign ministers decided on Thursday to maintain their policy of keeping ambassadors to Iran at home because of Tehran's refusal to re-admit Germany's envoy.

French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine told a news conference that ministers meeting in Luxembourg had left unchanged their policy that no ambassador from the 15-nation bloc should return until all do….

Azeris Stop Retransmission of Iranian Television, Reuter, June 26

BAKU - Azerbaijan, in a sign of worsening ties with Iran, has stopped daily retransmission of Iranian television programs over what it says is "interference in its internal politics" and "one-sided propaganda" by Tehran….

Mamedali Zulfugarov, acting director of Azerbaijan's television, told the government newspaper Khalg (Nation) that the broadcasts had formed part of an exchange accord under which Iranian television broadcast Azerbaijani-made programs….

"The agreement says that the programs will not interfere in each others' internal politics and will not involve one-sided propaganda. The Iranian broadcasts ignored those conditions."…

Baku, developing huge offshore oil resources, has accused Tehran in the past of wanting to overthrow its government and replace it with a conservative Islamic pro-Iranian one.

Four members of Azerbaijan's banned Islamic party were given long prison terms this year for allegedly spying for Tehran….

France Says Watching Iran's Trial of Writer, Reuter, June 26 

PARIS - France said on Thursday it was watching the trial in Iran of a journalist accused of espionage for signs of an improvement in Tehran's human rights record.

"We are paying close attention to the fate of journalist Faraj Sarkuhi," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jacques Rummelhardt said.

"In a general manner, the question of human rights is one area where we are expecting a change from Iran," he said at the ministry's daily media briefing….

Sarkuhi, editor of the monthly Adineh (Friday), has alleged in a letter smuggled out of Iran that he was held for six weeks and tortured by the Iranian secret service in Tehran late last year to force him to confess to spying for Germany….

Iran Says Swiss Diplomat Met Detained U.S. Citizen, Reuter, June 26

A Swiss consular official has visited a U.S. citizen arrested in Iran for entering the country illegally, the official news agency IRNA reported on Thursday….

The head of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, said on Tuesday Iran had recently arrested a U.S. national for entering the country illegally, but did not give other details….

Quake Destroys Iranian Villages, Reuter, June 26

An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale rocked northeastern Iran on Thursday destroying 15 villages, Iran's official news agency IRNA said.

It said the quake destroyed the villages near the towns of Qaen and Birjand, but did not mention any casualties….

It was the strongest quake to hit the area since May 10 when a force 7.1 earthquake killed more than 1,560 people, injured 2,600, left 50,000 homeless and leveled about 168 villages close to the towns of Qaen and Birjand.

U.N. officials said this week that most of those made homeless were still living in tents near their damaged villages and that Iranian authorities were expected to start rebuilding some of the ruined houses soon….

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