Iran’s supreme leader Monday reversed a decision by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and ordered him to implement a law supplying natural gas to remote villages amid rising dissatisfaction with the president’s performance.

Women in Saudi Arabia can now stay in a hotel or a furnished apartment without a male guardian, according to a government decision that comes as the country faces increasing criticism for its severe restrictions on women.

The U.N. Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany are expected to agree Tuesday on a new resolution to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, a French diplomat said.

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad presented the national budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year (begins March 20), to the Majlis on Monday.

Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel has described U.S. reports about a confrontation between Iranian speedboats and U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf as “part of a psychological and propaganda campaign against the Islamic Republic.”

Parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said here on Tuesday that if Ali Larijani and Ali Akbar Velayati decide to run for legislative elections and find a seat in parliament then “The eighth Majlis will be strengthened.”

An academic delegation of Columbia University professors and deans of faculties plans to visit Tehran to officially apologize to Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

CAIRO, Egypt – Iran is the one issue where President Bush and Arab leaders have shared concerns. Ahead of the president’s Mideast trip, Arab nations are eager to contain growing Iranian power, though they’re wary of doing so militarily.

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that a confrontation between Iranian boats and U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend was “something normal” and was resolved. It suggested the Iranian boats had not recognized the U.S. vessels.  

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A senior Saudi official urged French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday to respect Saudi Arabia’s conservative Islamic culture by visiting the country without his girlfriend, former supermodel Carla Bruni.