Iran Focus: London, Mar. 16 – The European Union denounced parliamentary elections held in Iran last week as unfair.

Reuters: Conservatives won a majority in Iran’s parliamentary vote, state television said on Sunday, but the new assembly may still give President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a tougher time ahead of next year’s presidential election.

Reuters: Switzerland’s foreign minister was travelling to Tehran on Sunday to sign a natural gas purchase contract between Iran and a Swiss utility, a deal she said could help ease Europe’s dependence on Russian gas.

AFP: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is to attend this month’s Arab summit hosted by its top regional ally Syria that is expected to be dominated by the political crisis in Lebanon.

AP: High gasoline prices and prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal headline Vice President Dick Cheney’s trip to the Mideast, but fears about Iran’s rising influence will be a key topic of his private talks at each stop.

AP: Iran’s Culture Ministry on Sunday announced the closure of nine cinema and lifestyle magazines for publishing pictures and stories about the life of “corrupt” foreign film stars and promoting “superstitions.”

The Observer: Religious conservatives in Iran – who had been guaranteed a strong showing in the country’s new parliament following the barring of many Reformist candidates from standing in Friday’s elections – appeared last night to have secured up to 70 per cent of seats.