France's U.N. envoy warned late Tuesday that Iran faces the risk of a military strike if it pursues its nuclear drive because certain countries would not accept it having an atomic weapon.

In surprisingly frank comments at a New York panel discussion, Ambassador Gerard Araud followed up on President Nicolas Sarkozy's statement that there could be a "preventive strike" against the Islamic republic.

The U.S. has sent a stern warning to Lebanon that “it will be hurt” if it doesn’t commit itself to a new U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Syria over its violent crackdown on protestors, Beirut dailies said.

Al-Liwaa newspaper on Tuesday quoted U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman as saying that if the Council imposes sanctions against Syria, “then Lebanon should commit to them and if it doesn’t it will be hurt.”

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over Lebanese accusations about Israel’s encroachment on Lebanese waters, saying that any unilateral action would harm all countries in the region, a U.N. source said.

The source told An Nahar daily published Monday that Ban told President Michel Suleiman during his visit to New York last week that the U.N. can play a role in the delineation of Lebanon’s maritime borders under a Security Council resolution.

Lebanon’s interest lies in “respecting U.N. resolutions and avoiding selectivity in their implementation,” Premier Najib Miqati said in New York, where he arrived Sunday for a several-day visit during which he would chair Security Council meetings and hold talks with top U.N. officials, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“We must regard Lebanon’s interest as a priority and I don’t believe that any faithful Lebanese can be against their country’s interest,” Miqati added, when asked by reporters about the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara, who is on a three-day tour to the South, said Sunday that Lebanon cannot overstep the U.N. and the Security Council, in reference to resolutions issued by the world body.

In his sermon at the Sayyida church in Hasbaya, al-Rahi said: “Lebanon is going through a difficult and sensitive stage.”

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon reiterated his support for the work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon during talks with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman on the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting in New York.

Ban’s office said Thursday the U.N. secretary-general reiterated his call on the Lebanese government to implement all its obligations with regard to the tribunal, which was set up to try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected assassins.

Thousands of Palestinians on Wednesday were gathering across the West Bank for rallies in support of the campaign to join the United Nations as the 194th member state.

In Ramallah, the political capital of the West Bank, thousands of people were heading for the city Centre, waving flags and chanting slogans, for a rally expected to start late morning, an AFP correspondent said.

The Palestinians will not be able to secure a Security Council majority in favor of their bid to become a United Nations member state, Israel's cabinet secretary Tzvi Hauser predicted on Tuesday.

Speaking on Israeli military radio, Hauser said the Palestinians would fail to obtain the nine yes votes they need to keep alive their hopes of becoming a member state on the lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.

President Michel Suleiman has put Israel’s infringement on 870 kilometers of Lebanese waters at the top of the agenda of his talks with world leaders in New York, including U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, Lebanese diplomatic sources said.

Suleiman is in New York to participate in the annual General Assembly meeting. He is scheduled to attend a Security Council session on Libya on Tuesday and address the Assembly the next day.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stressed on Saturday that Lebanon, which is the president of the U.N. Security Council for the month of September, will not support any resolution that condemns the Syrian regime in its violent crackdown on protestors.

“Even Russia rejects a resolution against Syria in the form that the West wants,” he told Voice of Mada radio station.