Iranian maritime authorities said Wednesday that Iran seized a ship carrying cargo for Denmark's giant Maersk group under a legal ruling over a longstanding commercial dispute.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards intercepted the Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel Maersk Tigris on Tuesday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz leading into the Gulf.

A top Iranian security official on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia of using "cold war era" scare tactics in Yemen, after an air drop of leaflets that criticize "Persian expansion."

The reference, to Iran's language and ancient name, was contained on white paper fliers released from Saudi aircraft in recent weeks.

President Hassan Rouhani warned Tuesday that middlemen who have circumvented sanctions will need to "think of another job" as a potential final nuclear deal brings changes to Iran's economy.

The remarks, at a ceremony in Tehran ahead of Labor Day on Friday, signalled Rouhani's intent to tackle a black market that has thrived in Iran after official trading routes were cut off.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri has blamed Hizbullah for the proliferation of terrorist groups in Lebanon and vowed to stop the eruption of a new civil war in the country.

“Hizbullah’s involvement in defense of the Assad dictatorship in Syria has imported terrorism to Lebanon,” Hariri said at the Wilson Center in Washington on Monday.

U.S. top diplomat John Kerry on Monday said he would urge his Iranian counterpart to help ease the violence in Yemen, warning the country's future should not be decided by "external parties."

Kerry was due to meet later with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as negotiations on a nuclear deal move into a final phase.

Iran on Monday led calls by non-aligned nations for Israel to give up its nuclear weapons as a major conference got underway on advancing prospects for a nuclear-free world.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif addressed the conference on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ahead of a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the landmark nuclear deal reached this month.

A solid majority of American voters back President Barack Obama's interim deal with Iran, a poll by Quinnipiac University showed Monday.

Some 58 percent of voters back the outline deal, which would curb Iran's nuclear program for more than a decade and subject Tehran to tough inspections.

The first troops from Saudi Arabia's National Guard have been deployed on the border with Yemen, official media said late on Sunday.

They will join members of the border guard and the army who have reinforced the frontier since March 26 when a Saudi-led coalition began air strikes against Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies in Yemen.

North Korea has increased its "material support" for terrorist organizations and should be placed back on America's list of nations that are state sponsors of terrorism, a report released Monday said.

The Pyongyang regime, at the time under the command of Kim Jong-il, was taken off the list in 2008 under the presidency of George W. Bush, who hoped to engage the reclusive nation in dialogue. 

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized fast-driving wealthy youngsters Sunday for creating "psychological insecurity" on the streets after two high-speed accidents killed five people.

Addressing an audience of police chiefs, Khamenei said officers needed plans to deal with drivers who speed, and suggested such fatalities were a product of privilege and disregard for others.