Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused on Wednesday Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of “leading the country to a catastrophe due to his recent actions,” saying that the party leader is only working on achieving his interests in Lebanon.

He said during a press conference: “Nasrallah has taken it upon himself to act as judge to determine who takes part in the national dialogue.”

Ten people were killed Wednesday when a rescue helicopter ferrying wounded people from a vehicle accident to hospital hit power lines and crashed to the ground in northeastern Iran, media reported.

Those who died included four members of the helicopter crew, five people who had been wounded in the minibus crash and a medic from the emergency services.

The March 14 alliance lashed out on Tuesday at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, pointing out that the high tension level in his speech indicates the crisis his party is going through over the developments in Syria and the opposition’s rejection to attend the all-party talks.

“He divided the Lebanese into two categories: conspirators and patriots,” sources close to the March 14 coalition told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

Iran on Monday launched an air defense exercise a general said was aimed at optimizing its deterrent capabilities as well as sending a "strong warning" to those threatening it with military strikes.

The start of the maneuvers, originally scheduled for early October but postponed without an official explanation, was announced on the website of the Revolutionary Guards, sepahnews.com.

The key to resolving the abduction of the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria lies in Turkey's hands, not Syria and Iran, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.

Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case, told the daily: “The families of the pilgrims have not yet taken the decision to stage a protest in front of the Syrian and Iranian Embassies in Beirut.”

Iran on Saturday brushed aside newly-imposed U.S. sanctions over media censorship, which it said was essential to preserve "moral values" in the Islamic republic.

Dismissing them as "unimportant", Islamic Culture and Guidance Minister Mohammad Hosseini said the sanctions "against the ministry and the press watchdog are the gift of the new American administration," Mehr news agency reported.

Four people were killed and 26 injured late on Friday when a train derailed in central Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The service from the southeastern city of Zahedan to the capital had 324 passengers on board, the news agency quoted the head of Iran's Red Crescent rescue corps, Mahmoud Mozafar, as saying.

Iran's defense minister confirmed on Friday a Pentagon claim that two Iranian fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Predator drone in the Gulf last week.

"Last week an anonymous plane entered the space over the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf area which, due to the timely, clever and decisive action of our armed forces, was forced to flee," Ahmad Vahidi was quoted on ISNA as saying.

World leaders including Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gather in Bali from Thursday for a forum to promote democracy, but critics say sanctions-hit Tehran will use the talks to combat its growing isolation.

The fifth Bali Democracy Forum has attracted record numbers of heads of state and government, including Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak.

The March 14 opposition alliance is hinging on a French-Saudi initiative that would steer Lebanon clear of the Syrian war and lead to a change in the Lebanese government, al-Mustaqbal movement sources said Wednesday.

Such an initiative would keep Lebanon away of the “Syrian swamp” and could expand to include the United States and Russia, the sources told As Safir daily.