We propose a new algorithm for Approximate Joint Diagonalization (AJD) with two main advantages over existing state-of-the-art algorithms: Improved overall running speed, especially in large-scale (high-dimensional) problems; and an ability to incorporate specially structured weight-matrices into the AJD criterion. The algorithm is based on approximate Gauss iterations for successive reduction of a weighted Least Squares off-diagonality criterion. The proposed Matlab ¢ implementation allows AJD of ten £¥¤¦¤¨§©£¥¤¦¤ matrices in 3-4 seconds (for the unweighted case) on a common PC (Pentium