U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that Lebanese rather than foreigners should decide the country's future.

The United States has warned of effects on bilateral relations after billionaire businessman Najib Miqati was named premier-designate with the support of Hizbullah and its allies.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that a Hizbullah-controlled government in Lebanon would "clearly have an impact" on ties with the United States.

The comments came after Hizbullah-backed Najib Miqati was named Lebanon's prime minister-designate, giving the Iran- and Syria-backed armed group increased leverage in the deeply divided country to the anger of many Sunnis.

The United States stands ready to help Lebanon out of its ongoing political impasse, but it is ultimately up to Beirut to resolve the crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters Thursday.

Asked at a press conference about international mediation efforts following the collapse this week of Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government, Clinton said: "We stand ready, as do many others in the region and beyond, to be of assistance," Clinton said.

Iran said Tuesday its nuclear and foreign policies will not change after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fired Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and replaced him with the atomic chief.

"Iran's major international policies are defined in higher levels and the foreign ministry executes these policies. We will not see any changes in our basic policies," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly briefing.

Richard Holbrooke, a brilliant and feisty U.S. diplomat who wrote part of the Pentagon Papers, was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace plan and served as President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, died Monday, the State Department said. He was 69.

Calling Holbrooke "a true giant of American foreign policy," Obama paid homage to the veteran diplomat as "a truly unique figure who will be remembered for his tireless diplomacy, love of country, and pursuit of peace." Holbrooke deserves credit for much of the progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the president said.

Iran will never use force against its Muslim neighbors, its foreign minister told a conference on Middle East security on Saturday, after the United States said Arab states were worried by Tehran's suspected attempts to acquire nuclear weapons.

And in a keynote address to the conference, Jordan's King Abdullah II said Israeli-Palestinian peace talks must be rescued from collapse to ensure regional and world stability.