Tehran  - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday called for a stronger alliance with Syria in a bid to resist Israel and its allies over the Palestinian crisis.

In a meeting with visiting Syrian Prime Minister Mahmoud Naji Otri, Ahmadinejad praised the two countries' position on the international and regional issues, particularly the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

"Recent developments in the world proved that Iran and Syria were moving on the right track insisting on the need of resistance against enemies," the Iranian leader said.

Tehran  - A number of Hollywood stars and members of the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), currently in Tehran for a cultural exchange programme, visited on Sunday the cinema museum in Tehran.

Among the team were also actresses Annette Bening and Alfre Woodard who had to wear, in line with local Islamic regulations, a scarf and long coat to cover hair and body contours.

Tehran  - Iran's supreme leader on Saturday warned Iraq over the prolonged presence of US forces in that country, the Iranian media reported.

"The occupiers are preparing grounds for a long and enduring presence in Iraq and this is a big danger of which the Iraqi officials should be aware," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told visiting Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

Vienna  - Britain, France, and Germany are formulating further sanctions if Iran continues to defy UN Security Council resolutions, but European diplomats said Friday they would not act before the start of direct talks between the United States and Iran.

The Europeans' aim was to "strengthen (US President Barack) Obama's hand during the talks as much as possible," a diplomat said in Vienna.

Tehran  - Iran sees no limits in expanding its ties with neighbouring Iraq, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani at the Iran-Iraq summit in Tehran on Friday.

"We will grant Iraq all our experiences in all relevant fields and from our side, there is no limit for expanding cooperation with our friends and brothers in Iraq," Ahmadinejad told Talabani in their first round of talks.

Tehran - Talks with the West to resolve the nuclear dispute will eventually prove that Iran has no secret military programmes, Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani said Friday.

"I say it once again: We have no plans to pursue any military programmes in our nuclear projects and are ready to prove this to the West," Rafsanjani said at the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran.