• Office of the Supreme Leader via AFP - Getty Images

    A picture released by the official website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows Iranian air force commanders saluting Khamenei during a meeting in Tehran on Feb. 7, 2013. Khamenei rejected a US offer to negotiate one-on-one on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme so long as Washington continues to impose sanctions on Iran.

    Iran's supreme leader rejects Joe Biden's offer of direct talks

    By Marcus George, Reuters

    Published at 7:18 a.m. ET: Iran's supreme leader on Thursday rejected an offer of direct talks made by Vice President Joe Biden this week, saying they would not solve the problems between them, Iranian media reported.

    "Some naive people like the idea of negotiating with America, however, negotiations will not solve the problems," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech to officials and members of Iran's aerospace force, IRIB reported. Read the full story.

  • Voting begins in Iran's election

    Kamran Jebreili / AP

    People line up to cast their ballots for the parliamentary elections at Masoumeh shrine in the city of Qom, Iran, on March 2, 2012.

    Ayatollah Khamenei's official website via EPA

    Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, giving his ID to officials before casting his vote in Tehran on March 2, 2012.

    Morteza Nikoubazl / Reuters

    Young people stand in line while waiting to cast their votes at a mosque in central Tehran on March 2, 2012.

    Behrouz Mehri / AFP - Getty Images

    A clergyman chooses his candidates at a polling station at the Massoumeh shrine in the religious city of Qom on March 2, 2012.

    Behrouz Mehri / AFP - Getty Images

    A girl stands next to a ballot box as election officials register a voter at a polling station at the Massoumeh shrine in Qom on March 2, 2012.

    Atta Kenare / AFP - Getty Images

    A couple cast their vote at a polling station in Tehran on March 2, 2012.

    Iranians voted on Friday in a parliamentary election which is expected to reinforce the power of the clerical establishment of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over hard-line political rivals led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

    The election is unlikely to have much impact on Iran's foreign policies - the country's disputed nuclear program and international relations are already strictly controlled by Khamenei.

    But it could allow the clergy to strengthen its hand in determining the political backdrop ahead of a presidential election due in 2013. Read more.

    -- NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services contributed to this report

    EDITORS' NOTE: Foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

    See more photos of the election campaign on PhotoBlog.

  • Iran marks anniversary of Khomeini's return from exile

    Raheb Homavandi / Reuters

    EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on leaving the office to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

    Women pray beside the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at the Behesht Zahra cemetery, south of Tehran, on Feb. 1, 2012.

    Leader.ir via AFP - Getty Images

    A photo provided by Iran's Supreme Leader's office on Feb. 1, 2012 shows Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praying at Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's tomb during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Behesht Zahra cemetery south of Tehran on Jan. 31.

    On Feb. 1, 1979, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile from Iran, a homecoming which triggered the country's Islamic revolution.

     See more pictures or Iran on PhotoBlog and read a Reuters report on the return of "great power" politics to the Middle East.