Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that he was not interested in meeting his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy.

"One of the European heads of states who tries to show off as world power and talk like Pharaohs recently said that he would not talk to and shake hands with someone who said that the Zionist regime (Israel) should be eliminated," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in Ahvaz, south-western Iran.

He was referring to Sarkozy's remarks that he would neither offer his hand to or share a table with him because of Ahmadinejad's antipathy toward Israel.

Tehran, Dec 15: An archaeologist has said that the name "Persian Gulf" has a historical root and has been registered in all historical documents and texts, and so, efforts to alter the name will prove futile.

According to a report by Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), British archaeologist Dr. Lloyd Weeks made the statement at the 10th International Congress on Iran Archaeology in Bandar Abbas, capital of Hormuzgan province.

"World reputed academic circles have also recognized the place as "Persian Gulf" and no other names are credited," Weeks told IRNA.

Tehran- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again attacked Israel Friday, saying the Jewish state would soon "fade away from the earth."

"The crimes being committed by the Zionist regime (Israel) are happening because it is aware that it has reached the end of the line and will soon fade away from the earth," Mehr news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during an anti-Israeli rally in Tehran.

He said Israel had lost direction and was increasingly finding that world powers were becoming hesitant to show further support for the Jewish state.

Tehran - Iran warned Paris of "unsuitable consequences" in a formal protest against remarks by French President Nicolas Sarkozy critical of his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday.

The Iranian foreign ministry summoned Bernard Poletti, French Ambassador to Tehran on Wednesday, and told him that "France's dilettante extremist approach towards Iran would leave unsuitable consequences on bilateral ties," IRNA reported.

Tehran - Iran has decided to block more websites and crack down on internet bloggers, Tehran prosecutor Saeid Mortazavi said Wednesday.

"We will harshly confront those who run anti-religious, immoral and decadent sites," Mortazavi told Fars news agency without further clarifying.

He said computer experts and two officials from the prosecutor's office have formed a team to identify and block those websites.

The prosecutor especially referred to sexual websites "which have caused concern among Iranian families."

Tehran - Egypt has recalled its diplomatic envoy from Tehran after a protest was held in front of its interest section, Fars news agency reported Wednesday.

Hundreds of Islamist students staged a gathering on Monday in front of the Egyptian embassy's interest section in Tehran in protest against Egypt's continued cooperation with political arch-foe Israel over the ongoing siege of the ruling Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.

Despite reassurances by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi that the diplomatic missions in Tehran were sufficiently secured, Cairo decided to recall its envoy from the Islamic state.