The United States is confident it can prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons even if the Islamic republic pulls out of talks, CIA Director John Brennan said in remarks broadcast Sunday.

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Brennan said America has multiple measures at its disposal to ensure Iran doesn't become a nuclear power.

Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top officer responsible for foreign operations, provides assistance in Iraq "whenever we need him," Hadi al-Ameri, the commander of the Badr militia, said on Sunday.

"He was giving very good advice. The battle ended now, and he returned to his operations headquarters," Ameri told journalists close to the Al-Alam area north of Baghdad.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed on Sunday that Hizbullah is the only factor at this point obstructing the rise of the state, noting that there is no enmity with the party but mere political rivalry.

"We only oppose Hizbullah's political stance... the party has foreign ties that disagree with our own principles regarding Lebanon... our relationship is a political rift between two political projects," Geagea said in an interview on Youtube.

Head of the Maronite patriarchate in Bkirki held consultations on Friday with a number of Christian leaderships over the presidential deadlock, reported An Nahar daily on Saturday.

It said that the talks focused on how to “develop ways to demand the election of a president after it appeared that all theoretical positions did not lead to holding the polls.”

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday urged Tehran to return four U.S. citizens captive or missing in Iran, in the latest direct appeal to the country's leaders and citizens.

Obama called on Iran to "immediately release Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati and Jason Rezaian" and to "work cooperatively" to find Robert Levinson "so that they all can be safely reunited with their families as soon as possible."

Head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora filed a complaint against Arab Tawhid Party leader and former minister Wiam Wahhab over remarks accusing the lawmaker of belonging to the “Israeli project” in the region.

The state-run National News Agency reported on Thursday that Saniora briefed General Prosecutor Samir Hammoud on the context of Wahhab's statements during a televised interview, stressing that he reserves the right to file a lawsuit against the former minister.

The Arab League chief dismissed Wednesday as electioneering Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow to rule out a Palestinian state if reelected, saying there would be global pressure for a peace deal.

Netanyahu, whose Likud party won 30 seats in the 120-member parliament in Tuesday's vote, had pledged to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank and block creation of a Palestinian state if reelected.

Marathon talks to draw up the outlines of a landmark Iran nuclear deal by a March 31 deadline looked set Wednesday to go down to the wire as Tehran played down chances of finishing the job this week.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, currently holding talks in Switzerland with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, said other foreign ministers from world powers involved in the negotiations were unlikely to join them.

Fears that Shiite Iran will remain a potential nuclear threat under a mooted international deal have raised concerns that Tehran's Sunni rival Saudi Arabia could seek its own atomic capability.

As the March 31 deadline for talks between Tehran and world powers approaches, an influential Saudi prince has suggested his country will respond in kind if a final deal leaves open the possibility of a nuclear Iran.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said he advised al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora to disregard remarks made by officials outside Lebanon to preserve Lebanon.

Berri said in remarks published on Wednesday that he criticized Saniora on his latest speech, adding it did not fall in the interest of the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal.