Beirut - Iranian speaker of parliament Ali Larijani is to travel to Iraq and Lebanon in the next few days, according to a report published by the Saudi Arabian daily Al-Watan on Wednesday.

Larijani will convey messages from Iraqi Ayatollah Ali Sistani to Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the daily quoted unnamed sources from Iran as saying.

The sources said that the letter carried by Larijani, who is currently visiting Manama, revealed Sistani's position on the security agreement between Iraq and the United States.

Manama, Bahrain - Iran's speaker of parliament Ali Larijani, in an interview published in Bahrain on Wednesday, criticized US policies on the Middle East conflict and the situation in Iraq.

"The West needs to reconsider what they say. The top US diplomat Condoleezza Rice, during the Israeli aggression against Lebanon which lasted 33 days, described the war as 'the birth pangs of a new Middle East'," Larijani was quoted as saying by Al Wasat.

"As a woman who did not try the experience of pregnancy she seems to not have known that a birth needs longer time than that."

Riyadh - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Tuesday expressed appreciation for European Union efforts to seek a peaceful resolution to the growing controversy over Iran's pursuit of nuclear technology.

He said the best way to solve the region's nuclear question is complete disarmament of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. The disarmament would have to include Israel, he said.

Manama, Bahrain - The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, arrived in Bahrain Tuesday to start a three-day tour of Gulf nations.

Larijani's arrival coincided with the start of a two-day meeting in Manama between the United States and Persian Gulf nations focused on maritime security. That is a continuous issue because of previous threats by Tehran to shut down the vital Strait of Hormuz if Iran should ever come under attack from the United States or Israel.

London, Oct 21 : Iranian security forces have arrested two pigeons for apparently spying near its Natanz nuclear facility.

According to the Etemad Melli newspaper, one of the pigeons captured near rose water production plant in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province had metal rings and "invisible" strings attached to it.

It is believed that the bird might have been communicating what it had seen with the equipment it was carrying.

Tehran  - An Iranian woman who had been studying in California was arrested by Iranian police, reportedly for making unauthorised video interviews with women activists in Iran, the Tehran press reported Tuesday.

The daily Kargozaran reported that Esha Momeni, member of the Change for Equality campaign, was transferred to the notorious Evin prison after her arrest last week.

Momeni reportedly planned to make a film about women in Iran in general and woman activist Parvin Ardalan in particular.

Ardalan, 41, last year initiated a plan to collect one million signatures in Iran to amend the prevailing law on women's rights, which are not equal to those of men.