UN watchdog, EU's Ashton to press Iran in nuclear dispute

By Fredrik Dahl and Parisa Hafezi

VIENNA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Iran faces international pressure in two separate meetings over its nuclear program on Wednesday, but with the Islamic state focused more on a June presidential election no breakthrough is expected in the dispute.

In Vienna, the U.N. nuclear agency will once again urge Iran to stop stonewalling its investigation into suspected atomic bomb research by Tehran, which denies any intent to make such weapons. The talks are due to start around 10 a.m. (0400 ET).

Later over dinner in Istanbul, the European Union's top diplomat will meet Iran's chief nuclear negotiator - also now a presidential candidate - to discuss a broader diplomatic bid to resolve a row that could trigger a new war in the Middle East.

The two sets of talks represent distinct diplomatic tracks but are linked because both center on suspicions that Iran may be seeking to develop the capability to assemble nuclear weapons behind the facade of a declared civilian atomic energy program.

Any movement in the decade-old standoff will probably have to wait until after Iran's unpredictable June 14 election to choose a successor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, analysts and diplomats say.

Even though it is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who decides Iran's nuclear policy, the conservative leadership may want to tread cautiously ahead of a vote in which loyalists will be challenged by two major independents.

With the election coming up, "the Iranians will do everything to keep everything stable," one Western envoy said.

Baqer Moin, an Iran expert based in London, said: "The supreme leader is not the only decision-maker ... Iran cannot make any final decision now."

SPECTRE OF MILITARY ACTION

Israel and the United States have warned of possible military action against Iran if diplomacy and increasingly tough trade and energy sanctions fail to make it curb its nuclear programme.

Tehran says it is a purely peaceful project to generate electricity and that it is Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, that threatens peace and stability in the region.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has been trying for more than a year to coax Iran into allowing it to resume an inquiry into what the U.N. watchdog describes as the "possible military dimensions" to Tehran's nuclear programme.

Wednesday's talks in Vienna will be the 10th round of negotiations between the two sides since early 2012, so far without an agreement that would give the IAEA the access to sites, officials and documents it says it needs.

Iran's IAEA envoy, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said this week he expected progress to be made in the discussions. But Western diplomats voiced pessimism.

The Istanbul meeting between EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents six world powers, and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili follows a failed round of big power diplomacy in Kazakhstan in early April.

The gap is wide: the powers want Iran to suspend its most sensitive nuclear activity. Iran wants them to recognize its "right" to refine uranium - which can have both civilian and military purposes - and an end to tough economic sanctions.

(Additional reporting by Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Obama pokes fun at critics, media at annual press dinner

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama poked fun at the media, his critics and himself on Saturday at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, a star-filled event where journalists and celebrities mixed with the Washington elite.

Joined at the dinner by his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, the president gently knocked Republicans for not working with him on policy priorities and made a rare reference to his race when urging the opposition party to be cooperative.

"I know Republicans are still sorting out what happened in 2012, but one thing they all agree on is they need to do a better job reaching out to minorities," Obama said.

"And look, call me self-centered, but I can think of one minority they could start with. Hello? Think of me as a trial run, you know?" he said.

Obama, a Democrat and the first black U.S. president, won re-election in November with overwhelming support from minority voters including blacks and Hispanics.

He took a swipe at people who have doubted his religion and accused him of being a radical leftist, while he made light of his graying hair.

"These days, I look in the mirror and I have to admit, I'm not the strapping young Muslim socialist that I used to be," Obama said. "Time passes. You get a little gray."

The president is a Christian who was born in Hawaii, but he included some material for so-called "birthers" who falsely assert he was born abroad.

"I'm also hard at work on plans for the Obama Library, and some have suggested that we put it in my birthplace, but I'd rather keep it in the United States," he said.

Obama made light of his own rapid rise to power by comparing himself to Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a Hispanic from Florida who is touted as a potential presidential candidate in 2016.

"One senator who has reached across the aisle recently is Marco Rubio, but I don't know about 2016. I mean, the guy has not even finished a single term in the Senate and he thinks he's ready to be president," Obama joked. "Kids these days."

Obama began running for president during his first term as a U.S. senator from Illinois.

In a room filled with journalists, the president saved some of his most biting jokes for the press.

"I know CNN has taken some knocks lately, but the fact is I admire their commitment to cover all sides of a story, just in case one of them happens to be accurate," he said, drawing applause.

"Some of my former advisors have switched over to the dark side. For example, David Axelrod now works for MSNBC, which is a nice change of pace since MSNBC used to work for David Axelrod."

Axelrod was the chief strategist for Obama's re-election campaign and a former White House adviser. MSNBC is considered to be a liberal-leaning television network.

Obama also made light of his wife's new bangs, drawing laughter from her when he showed mock pictures of himself with the same hairdo.

(Additional reporting by Elwina Nawaguna and Peter Cooney; Editing by Paul Simao)

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Car bomb hits Syrian capital as rebels press closer

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

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