Tehran  - Iran launched into orbit its first domestically produced satellite Tuesday morning, the official news agency IRNA reported.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the launching of the satellite called Omid, or hope, on a domestically produced Safir 2 rocket, IRNA said.

The United States is concerned about the satellite launch because it could be a precursor to the development of ballistic missiles, US State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

Herzlia, Israel  - Diplomatic efforts to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear programme must be accompanied by a clear timeline, after which harsh sanctions could be imposed, accompanied by a willingness to act, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday.

He told an international conference in Herzlia, north of Tel Aviv, that all options regarding Iran were on the table. "Beyond that I will say nothing," he added.

Tehran  - Iran launched into orbit its first domestically produced satellite Tuesday morning, the official news agency IRNA reported.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the launching of the satellite called Omid, or Hope, on a domestically produced Safir 2 rocket, IRNA said.

The launch, also shown on Iranian state television, was made on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Tehran - A settlement of the Iranian nuclear dispute would be feasible if the issue were tackled "correctly" and the United States clarified its new position, Iran's parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Monday.

"Instead of coming up with preconditions, they (world powers) should resume the talks and clearly articulate their concerns so that we can find was to settle them," he told reporters in Tehran.

Tehran  - Iran on Sunday celebrated the 30th anniversary of the 1979 revolution by paying tribute to the late supreme leader and architect of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

At the beginning of the festivities, which were this year held one day earlier due to the Persian leap year, current supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visited the shrine of his predecessor as well as the graves of martyrs of the Islamic revolution and the 1980-88 war against Iraq.

Tehran  - Iran's top and popular football star, Ali Karimi, is on the verge of dismissal from his club Persepolis Tehran after voicing renewed criticism of the country's sports officials, local media reported Saturday.

The former Bayern Munich midfielder was dismissed last year from the national team after harshly criticizing the Iranian Football Federation (FFI) and describing its current formation as the weakest in his ten-year spell in the national team, bringing Iranian football backwards rather than forward.