Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's eight years in power have isolated Iran internationally because of deep suspicions over its secretive nuclear programme and unwavering support for Syria's Bashar al-Assad, its closest regional ally, analysts say. After two consecutive four-year terms since first taking office in 2005, Ahmadinejad is now constitutionally barred from standing in Friday's presidential election.

Duty editor: Jim Mannion Tel: +1 202 414 0541 -- TOP STORIES -- + Briton butchered in street in suspected London terror attack + Oklahoma suburb faces massive recovery task after tornado + Iran's Ahmadinejad contests block on ally's bid to succeed him Britain-unrest-military-murder,WRAP LONDON A man believed to be a British soldier is brutally murdered by suspected Islamists near a London barracks in what Prime Minister David Cameron says was a likely terror attack. 700 words 2000 GMT by Robin Millard. Picture. Video

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday reiterated Iran's staunch support for Damascus, insisting that a rebel victory in Syria would threaten the entire region, his office's website said. "A group coming into power through war and conflict will lead to continued war and security problems for a long time," Ahmadinejad told a delegation led by Essam El Haddad, adviser to Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday defended his country's controversial nuclear programme while on a tour of west Africa, calling it peaceful and arguing that Tehran has no use for an atomic bomb. Speaking during a visit to Benin, the first stop on a three-nation tour, Ahmadinejad called nuclear energy a "divine gift" providing affordable electricity. "They accuse Iran, like all nations that seek to rapidly find their way out of the current domination," the Iranian leader said through an interpreter in a speech at a Benin university.