TEHRAN, Iran — Iran today offered the first official indication that the nation of Oman is playing a role in trying to secure the release of two American men imprisoned for more than a year.

The remarks by foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast come after a newspaper reported that an Omani delegation was expected to visit Iran and hoped to take the detainees home with it.

Oman helped secure the Sept. 14 release of American Sarah Shourd, who was arrested along with Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal near the Iran-Iraq border.

That raised hopes the Gulf sultanate — an ally of both the United States and Tehran — could help secure the two men's freedom as well.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's Kim Jong Il made his youngest son a four-star general in a major promotion seen as confirmation that he is slated to become the country's next leader.The announcement was published in state media hours before a historic Workers' Party meeting today where Kim, 68 and apparently in deteriorating health, was expected to grant son Kim Jong Un and other family members top posts in plans to take the communist dynasty into a third generation.The North Korean capital was in a festive mood, with banners celebrating the meeting, where Kim Jong Il was re-elected to the party's top position of general secretary.The succession within the regime is of regional significance because of Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs and continuing tensions between North Korea and rival South Korea — where the U.S. retains a major military presence.

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber killed a deputy provincial governor and five others today in eastern Afghanistan, police said. Later, a tearful President Hamid Karzai decried the violence, fretting that young people will choose to flee their country.The bomber rammed a motorized rickshaw loaded with explosives into one of two vehicles in a convoy taking Deputy Gov. Khazim Allayar to his office in Ghazni city. His adult son, a nephew and a bodyguard were also killed, said police.