International sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program are having an effect, but have not yet convinced Tehran to step back, Israel's deputy foreign minister said on Thursday.

"Iran is on the verge of bankruptcy because of the sanctions, and there are growing protests against the ayatollahs, but these sanctions have not dissuaded the regime in power in Tehran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions," Danny Ayalon told Israeli public radio.

President Michel Suleiman's expected visit to South America over the weekend will not include Argentina over a terrorist attack allegedly carried out by Hizbullah in Buenos Aires, media reports said on Thursday.

Sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that Suleiman's visit to Argentina was canceled because of the pressure exerted by the Israeli lobby in Buenos Aires over accusations that Hizbullah carried out the attack on a Jewish association in Argentina's capital in 1994.

A Lebanese pilgrim kidnapped in Syria in May returned to Beirut from Turkey to a hero's welcome on Wednesday night, a day after his release by his abductors.

Awad Ibrahim arrived at Rafik Hariri international airport aboard a Turkish Airlines flight around 8:30 pm accompanied by two General Security and Internal Security Forces officers.

President Barack Obama will tell the United Nations Tuesday that the United States will "do what we must" to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, according to excerpts from his speech.

He also planned to address the Middle East turmoil sparked by an offensive anti-Islam Internet video and the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya in a wide-ranging speech just six weeks before the November 6 U.S. election.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati shrugged off fears of Hizbullah's involvement in any future war between Israel and Iran, saying the party is wise and has pledged to steer Lebanon clear of regional conflicts.

“Hizbullah is lately behaving very wisely,” Miqati told reporters in New York. “It has given its consent to the Baabda Declaration that states keeping Lebanon away from the policies of axes and regional and international conflicts.”

Crude prices rose in Asia Tuesday after the United States, Britain, France and Germany moved to apply more restrictions and sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November rose 31 cents to $92.24 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for November delivery gained 29 cents to $110.10.

Iran blocked access to Google's popular and relatively secure Gmail service Monday amid first steps by the Islamic republic to establish a walled-off national intranet separate from the worldwide Internet.

Access to Google's search page (www.google.com) was also restricted to its unsecured version, web users in Iran found. Attempts to access it using a secure protocol (https://www.google.com) were also blocked.

President Barack Obama likened Israeli pressure on him to draw a line in the sand over Iran's nuclear ambitions as noise he tries to ignore, according to remarks aired Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently urged the United States to establish what he called a "red line" regarding Tehran's nuclear program beyond which the United States would be compelled to act.

As Iran's academic year kicked off on Saturday, a U.S.-based rights group raised concern about new restrictions putting scores of university degree courses off-limits to women.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the restrictions extended a creeping "Islamicisation" of Iran's universities that have been imposed under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

In a move sure to enrage Tehran, the U.S. is poised to remove an Iranian opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, from its terror blacklist, U.S. lawmakers said Friday.

The move comes just days ahead of an October 1 deadline set by a U.S. appeals court by which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had to decide on the fate of the group, also known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK).