Iran

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.  

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has vowed that there will be no retreat in Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.

Iran has attacked President Bush’s planned trip to the Middle East and says it has no plans to normalize relations with the United States. 

TEHRAN (FNA) Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said Iran has always experienced sensitive conditions ever since the Islamic Revolution in 1797, but meantime, reiterated that the country is not dominated by critical conditions at present.

TEHRAN (FNA) Some of the heaviest snowfalls in years caused severe transport disruptions in Iran on Sunday, forcing the cancellation of most flights and the closure of many roads.