Middle Orient

Iran said on Sunday a Middle East conference organized by the United States would result in an erosion of Palestinian rights because Washington had shown in the past that it was not an objective mediator.

At least one man was dead and 50 people were missing after a boat with 200 aboard sank in the Bay of Bengal, police said on Sunday.

Pakistani troops, backed by helicopter gunships and artillery, have begun a ground offensive against pro-Taliban militants in a troubled northwestern valley, killing at least 30 of them, the military said on Sunday.

Outraged Pakistani journalists have been confronting police on the streets since President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule three weeks ago and muzzled the vibrant media that blossomed under his rule.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora assured his country on Saturday there was no cause for alarm and said his Cabinet was assuming executive powers in the absence of a president for the first time in nine years.

Hamas will step up attacks against Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank after a US-hosted peace conference next week, an official said in a statement on its website Saturday.

Ivory Coast’s foreign minister is scheduled to arrive here in Tehran Sunday night to attend the first meeting of the two countries’ joint economic commission.

 Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to pay a visit to Iran on Monday.

55.5% of Iranians believe that the present parliament with a conservative majority has been more successful in solving people’s problems than the reformist parliament acting at the time of former President Khatami, results of a recent opinion poll suggested.

Iran does not support any special candidate in Lebanon and it stresses the need for a comprehensive agreement and consensus among Lebanese groups, tribes and figures, foreign ministry spokesman said.