Iran denied on Wednesday claims by Saudi Arabia that alleged spies it arrested were linked to the Islamic republic, and criticized the kingdom for publicizing such allegations.

Foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi said the reports were "false," maintaining Iran's position of completely rejecting the accusations.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that Iran and Hizbullah were "propping up" Syrian President Bashar Assad.

"It is very clear that the Syrian regime is receiving a great deal of support, increasing support in recent months from outside Syria from Hizbullah and Iran,” Hague said in a news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh in Amman.

Iran's moderate ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and a former government official Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie have been barred from contesting the June 14 presidential election, the interior ministry said Tuesday.

Eight candidates won approval to stand -- five conservatives close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as two moderate conservatives and a reformist, the ministry said in a statement.

Iranians are working alongside Hizbullah fighters to back Syrian troops battling to retake the rebel stronghold of Qusayr amid fears of a civilian massacre, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

"It is the most visible effort we have seen by Hizbullah to engage directly in the fighting in Syria as a foreign force, and we understand there are also Iranians up there," a senior State Department official told reporters.

Iran said Tuesday it is willing to attend an upcoming peace conference on Syria, arguing all influential parties must be included in the process for it to be a success.

"The condition for success in Geneva is that all countries with influence on events in Syria participate," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi told reporters.

A Bahraini court sentenced nine Shiites to jail terms ranging between 10 and 15 years on Monday after convicting them of forming a "terrorist" group, a judicial source said.

Cleric Ahmed al-Majed and a second defendant were jailed for 15 years, while a third defendant was sentenced to 10 years.

Advanced S-300 Russian air defense weapons, which Moscow has pledged to deliver to Syria, could reach Hizbullah and beyond, a senior Israeli defense official has warned.

Amos Gilad, head of the diplomatic-security branch of Israel's defense ministry, told Channel 2 that such a transfer is a threat to the Jewish state, to the U.S. and to the Persian Gulf.

Iran hanged two convicted spies on Sunday, one found guilty of working for Israel, the other for the United States, the Tehran prosecutor's office announced.

Mohammad Heydari was convicted of "receiving payment to provide intelligence on various security issues and national secrets in repeated meetings with the Mossad," Israel's intelligence agency, a statement said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was due to address a water security forum in Thailand has cancelled the trip because of his busy schedule, a member of the president's media office said Saturday.

"Ahmadinejad is unable to attend the forum due to his volume of work ... instead the Iranian delegation will be headed by the Head of the Environmental Protection Organization, Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh," Mohammad Sheikhan said, quoted by the ISNA news agency.

Women can not contest Iran's June 14 presidential election, a member of the Islamic state's electoral watchdog said in media reports on Friday, dashing the hopes of some 30 female candidates.

"The law prohibits women from being president," said hardline cleric and former judiciary chief Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, quoted by the Mehr news agency.