The fatwa came after pictures were published in a local newspaper, showing Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar hugging a male paragliding instructor in France. Bakhtiar had taken part in a paragliding demonstration in Paris to raise money for victims of Pakistan’s October 2005 earthquake.

The most sensitive areas at Natanz, deep underground, are thought to be halls that can hold up to 50,000 centrifuges.

Mr Larijani also warned that Iran would have no choice but to review its membership of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if further pressure was applied by the West over its nuclear programme.

it happens, this solution has overwhelming support among Iranians and Americans, who generally are in agreement on nuclear issues. The Iranian-American consensus includes the complete elimination of nuclear weapons everywhere (82% of Americans); if that cannot yet be achieved because of elite opposition, then at least a “nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East that would include both Islamic countries and Israel” (71% of Americans). Seventy-five percent of Americans prefer building better relations with Iran to threats of force. In brief, if public opinion were to have a significant influence