Iran calls on Washington to drop its routine allegations against Teheran

Iran says relations with the United States will remain strained unless Washington stops accusing Iran of posing a threat to the region and to the West.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said distrust would continue as long as Washington continued to repeat routine allegations.

Last week the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, called for an improvement in relations between Iran and the US.

In another reaction to Mr Khatami's call, the American Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, has said that the US was looking for actions from Iran to back up what she called the intriguing words from the Iranian president.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service