EU military attaches walked out in protest at a parade in Tehran Thursday after ballistic missiles were rolled past carrying vitriolic anti-US and Israeli slogans, diplomats told AFP.

"There was a common position among the European Union members that, if the military parade included any slogans that attacked our allies, we would leave," said a diplomat.

"The military attaches from the embassies of France, Italy, Greece and Poland were present at the parade, and when they saw the slogans they promptly left," said another diplomat.

At the parade, Iran showed off six of its Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles sporting banners reading "Death to America", "We will crush America under our feet", "Death to Israel" and "Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth"...

The European Union has dropped a call to have Iran referred immediately to the U.N. Security Council for its nuclear activities in hopes of enlisting Russia's support for confronting Tehran, diplomats said Friday.

"There is no mention of the Security Council" being called on to get involved immediately in an EU resolution being prepared for a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors, a diplomat said.

That would represent a reversal from earlier EU draft resolutions containing a call to report Iran immediately to the top U.N. decision- making body, where it could face possible sanctions...