Tehran - Iran on Thursday confirmed its attendance at the regional conference aimed at stabilizing Afghanistan to be held on March 31 in The Hague, local media reported.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi however said that the level of the Iranian delegation has not yet been clarified as Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is being on a trip abroad.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said earlier this month that it was expected that Iran would be invited to the conference.

Tehran  - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday that he would stay neutral in the June presidential elections and not support any candidate.

Khamenei was referring to press speculation that he would favour President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and prefer him to stay for another four-year tenure.

"I only have one vote and I will not tell anyone to vote for any special person," the supreme leader said in a televised speech in the city of Mashad in north-eastern Iran.

Tehran - Tehran has not officially reacted to Friday's offer by US President Barack Obama for a new start in relations with Iran, as the country celebrates the Persian New Year.

Obama early Friday offered a new start with Iran, saying the United States was committed to engagement, not threats, in its pursuit of diplomacy.

Obama made the remarks in a message for Nowruz, or the start of the Iranian year, broadcast by Voice of America's Persian News Network, which is widely viewed by satellite in Iran.

Tehran - Iran's first domestically produced satellite has ended its test and successfully accomplished its seven-week mission, state television reported Thursday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had on February 3 ordered the launching of Omid (Hope) satellite which caused concern in the West as the capability of launching satellites would also enable Iran to launch ballistic missiles.

Tehran - Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has called on all opposition groups to unite in order to replace President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the upcoming elections, the ISNA news agency reported Thursday.

"The society has reached a juncture in which all [political groups] should try to change the political status quo," Khatami told a group of reformists in Tehran.

Tehran - Tehran said the remarks by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Iran's nuclear work were "full of contradictions," local media reported Wednesday.

Brown on Tuesday described Iran as a "test case" of a country which had the "right to develop nuclear power" while being made fully aware that the development of atomic weapons was "unacceptable."