By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - Two senior U.N. nuclear watchdog officials who have been leading talks with Iran will leave this year, potentially robbing it of experience and expertise in dealing with Tehran over its disputed atomic programme. The management reshuffle coincides with apparent deadlock in the agency's push since early last year to coax Iran into allowing its inspectors to restart a long-stalled investigation into suspected atomic bomb research by the Islamic Republic.

By Marcus George DUBAI (Reuters) - Israeli threats to attack Iran's nuclear sites are the harmless barking of a dog, Iran's military said on Thursday, marking the last Army Day ceremony of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency with trademark acerbic rhetoric against the Jewish state. Ahmadinejad, who steps down at elections in June after eight years at the helm of the Islamic Republic's government, has used the podium at previous Army Day parades to lash out at the United States and its allies.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that international sanctions imposed over his country's nuclear drive had caused "problems", but insisted they had not stopped progress. Ahmadinejad spoke in Ghana as he wound up a three-nation tour of west Africa that also took him to Benin and Niger, the world's fourth largest producer of uranium.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday warned that the "tough sanctions" currently imposed on Iran might not be enough to prevent Tehran from obtaining a military nuclear capability. "We need to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons," he told foreign diplomats attending a reception at the presidential residence in Jerusalem, marking the 65th anniversary of the Jewish state's foundation. "We've seen the consequences of a rogue regime having atomic weapons," he said in reference to North Korea. "Tough sanctions and talk don't always do the job."