Raheb Homavandi / Reuters, file

Majid Jamali Fashi, left, appears at his trial at the revolutionary court in Tehran on August 23, 2011.

Iran has hanged a man it said was an agent for Israeli intelligence agency Mossad whom it convicted of killing one of its nuclear scientists in 2010, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday.

Twenty-four year old Majid Jamali Fashi was hanged at Tehran's Evin Prison after being sentenced to death in August last year for the murder of Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted the central prosecutor's office as saying. It said he had confessed to the crime.

The BBC reported that Fashi was accused of being a spy for Mossad and receiving $120,000 for the killing.

Ali-Mohammadi was killed in January 2010 when a remote-controlled bomb attached to a motorcycle outside his home in Tehran went off.

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Tuesday's IRNA report said Fashi had travelled abroad on several occasions to receive training from Mossad before returning to Iran to plot the assassination.

Azerbaijan news site, Trend, said Fashi was 26 years old and had also been accused of drug trafficking.

Yet Western analysts said Ali-Mohammadi, a 50-year-old Tehran University professor, had little, if any, role in Iran's sensitive nuclear program. A spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said at the time he was not involved in its activities.

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The most recent attack on an Iranian scientist occurred in January. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan - a deputy director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility - was killed when a magnetic bomb planted on his vehicle detonated.

The BBC said sources in Iran have accused the government of killing Professor Mohammadi because he was an opposition supporter.

Tehran has accused Israel and the United States of involvement in the killing in order to sabotage its controversial nuclear program. Washington has denied any U.S. role, while Israel has declined to comment. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

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The United States has given billions of dollars to Egypt in recent decades, but research published Tuesday by a major think tank suggests most Egyptians think American aid is having a "negative effect."

A poll by the Washington-based Pew Research Center also reveals growing Islamic sentiment among Egyptians since the Arab Spring, with 66 percent thinking Islam plays a major role in the country’s political life compared to 47 percent in 2010.

Six in 10 want to see Islamic law strictly enforced, compared to just six percent who feel it should have no influence.

The poll comes after local media and the country’s parliament heavily criticized U.S.-run non-governmental organizations, which are accused of meddling in Egypt’s affairs. Many Egyptians were incensed when U.S. citizens under investigation - including Sam LaHood, son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood - were allowed to leave the country.

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There was also widespread anger that the U.S. withheld support for opponents of Hosni Mubarak’s regime until it became apparent the ruler would fall.

Cairo receives $1.3 billion annually from the U.S. government in military aid, according to the State Department. However, the Pew poll shows six in 10 Egyptians think it has a negative effect – a figure that may prompt calls in the U.S. for aid to be cut.

Only one in five Egyptians have a positive attitude toward the United States, and less than one third expressed confidence in President Obama. Among young Egyptians, Obama’s popularity decreased by half in the past year.

Dr. Gamal Abdul Gawad, professor of political science at the American University in Cairo, told msnbc.com that Egyptians are disappointed in Obama.

"They had high hopes but feel that he did not deliver," he said. "They liked the position he took after his election toward the Middle East but did not see any follow up."

The results might disappoint those who hoped Egypt would follow in the path of Turkey, whose moderate Islamic government is making overtures to the West in its bid to join the European Union. Sixty-one percent of Egyptians told Pew they would prefer to follow the fundamentalist Saudi Arabian model of government.  

"Egyptians feel that the world has left them alone during the hard time after the revolution," Gawad said. "The U.S. made lots of promises but did not deliver, which further intensified the negative feelings people already had toward the U.S."

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There is also bad news for Egypt’s immediate neighbors: most Egyptians favor overturning the 1979 peace treaty in which Egypt became the first Arab country to formally recognize Israel.

Roughly six in 10 want to annul the treaty, up from last year's 54 percent. Opposition to the treaty significantly rose over the last year among young people and the highly educated, Pew said.

The Pew report is based on a survey of 1,000 Egyptian adults, conducted between March 19 and April 10, 2012.

Msnbc.com's Alastair Jamieson contributed to this report.

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Courtesy FIDE

President of the World Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, left, meets with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a visit to Damascus, Syria on Sunday.

Syria leader Bashar Assad has taken time away from the deadly civil war raging in his country to consider the issue of chess tournaments for school children.

Assad - whose forces have killed more than 9,000 people in the past year, according to the United Nations - held a three-hour meeting on Sunday with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, an eccentric Russian in charge of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), according to a report on Chessbase News.

The pair discussed a project to teach chess in Syrian schools, according to a press release that said an international youth chess tournament could be held in Damascus in early June.

Last week a bomb attack in Damascus killed nine people, part of ongoing bloodshed around Syria.

Ilyumzhinov, a Russian politician who used to the run region of Kalmykia. has previously visited world leaders including former Libya despot Moammar Gadhafi.

He did not rule out the possibility that Assad could take part in the proposed tournament, telling Chessbase: "TheSyrian President plays chess very well – since his studies in London".

He also revealed that Assad wants to invite the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet and a leading figure in world Buddhism, to sanctify an ancient Buddhist temple in Syria.

The Independent newspaper in London reported that Ilyumzhinov told Russia’s Interfax news agency the pair had also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Syria.

 "Assad says he is adhering to the Kofi Annan peace plan,” Interfax quoted Ilyumzhinov as saying. “But the situation is being destabilized by the opposition, who are receiving huge numbers of weapons from neighboring countries."

The Independent also reported that Ilyumzhinov has previously claimed to have been abducted by aliens, and Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein, since killed, was among his friends.

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Slideshow: Struggle in Syria

Str / AP

Images from Syria. Anti-government clashes continue as Western and Arab nations launch a diplomatic offensive to halt the violence.

Launch slideshow

More than 34 children have been killed in Syria since a shaky truce between President Bashar al-Assad's security forces and opposition groups began on April 12, a U.N. envoy said on Tuesday. 

"I urge all parties in Syria to refrain from indiscriminate tactics resulting in the killing and wounding of children," said Radhika Coomaraswamy, special envoy for children and armed conflict. 

The United Nations has been largely shut out of Syria during the conflict and most independent journalists have been barred, making it is difficult to independently verify details of attacks and casualties. 

"Since a truce was agreed on April 12 ... and despite the deployment of United Nations ceasefire monitors, more than 34 children have allegedly been killed," said in a statement.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two children were among 10 people killed in a mortar attack on Monday by Syrian forces on a village in the northern province of Idlib.

Coomaraswamy also said in recent days that at least one child was killed during anti-government protests and the body of a girl was retrieved from the rubble of a collapsed house in the city of Hama. 

Violence appears to be rising again after a lull immediately after the ceasefire's implementation. Thirty U.N. monitors are already in Syria and the mission's number is expected to rise to 50 by the end of the week. 

The United Nations says Syrian forces have killed more than 9,000 people since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. Damascus says rebels have killed more than 2,600 soldiers and police. 

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JERUSALEM - A former Israeli spymaster has branded the country's leaders unfit to tackle the Iranian nuclear program because of what he called the "messianic feelings" behind their threats to launch a pre-emptive war on Iran.

Other veterans have come out against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently, but the criticism from former domestic intelligence chief Yuval Diskin was especially strong.

"I have no faith in the prime minister, nor in the defense minister," Diskin, who stepped down as head of the Shin Bet a year ago, said in a speech partly broadcast by Israel Radio on Saturday.

"I really don't have faith in a leadership that makes decisions out of messianic feelings."

The catastrophic terms with which Netanyahu and Barak describe the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran have stirred concern in Israel and abroad of a possible strike against a uranium enrichment program Iran says has peaceful ends.

World powers have been trying to curb Tehran through sanctions and negotiations that are due to resume next month.

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Although Israel has threatened a pre-emptive strike if diplomacy fails, some experts believe that could be a bluff to keep up pressure on Iran, making it harder to interpret the swirl of comments from the security establishment.

Diskin's remarks came days after Israel's military chief, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, said Iran was "very rational" and unlikely to build a bomb in the face of world opposition, apparently undermining the case for a strike.

By using the language of religious fervor that Israelis usually associate with Islamist foes, Diskin appeared even more damning of Netanyahu and Barak, who have often crafted strategy alone and whose relationship dates back to service in an elite commando unit four decades ago.

The former head of Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence service, Meir Dagan, has ridiculed the idea of a strike on Iran.

Diskin, who spoke on Friday, said he was not necessarily opposed to Israel attacking Iran's nuclear sites pre-emptively, though he cited experts who argue that such an action might backfire by accelerating Tehran's quest for a bomb.

Yet going to war was not a job for Netanyahu, a second-term premier, nor Barak, Israel's most decorated soldier, Diskin said.

"I have seen them up close," he said. "They are not people who I personally, at least, trust to be able to lead Israel into an event on such a scale, and to extricate it."

The Prime Minister's Office and Defence Ministry had no immediate response to Diskin's remarks. A Netanyahu deputy, Silvan Shalom, rebuked the former spymaster and sought to assure Israelis that democratic process guided the government strategy.

"Not everyone thinks the same thing. This is not a decision that would be made by two people," he told Israel Radio.

"Ultimately, with all due respect to everyone, the one who is more important on this matter is the military chief of staff," Shalom said, referring to the general whose comments had appeared at odds with the official line.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, but Western nations as well as Israel fear it plans to build a bomb. 

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Bahrain's government came under growing pressure Thursday after international media who descended on the tiny Gulf kingdom to cover the country's  Formula One race turned their attention to persistent anti-government protests. 

Kevin Eason, motor racing correspondent for Britain's Times newspaper, told msnbc.com that what he had seen throughout Bahrain in the past few days had changed the way he viewed protesters in the country. (The Times operates behind a paywall)

"I was very impressed ... and the people were incredibly polite, generous (and) welcoming. They all had a story to tell of their own experiences and what has been happening recently," he said, recounting a peaceful demonstration numbering around 3,000 people that he had visited on Tuesday in the village of al Dair. 

"It was a proper cross-section of the community," Eason said.  "It was old men it was fathers, it was young children, toddlers and a lot of women -- difficult to know how many but maybe a thousand, all dressed in black, all calling for peace."

Mazen Mahdi / EPA

Anti-Formula One graffiti is seen on the walls in Barbar village, north of the Bahraini capital Manama on Wednesday.

"I was very impressed and moved by that."

Bahrain Grand Prix: For Formula One racing, politics is always in pole position

Eason added that the protests, which have been degenerating into nightly violent clashes with security forces in villages outside the capital, were only part of the story and that many people elsewhere were simply getting on with their everyday lives.

Earlier on Thursday, Eason tweeted that a fire bomb landed near a vehicle belonging to the Force India team as they came back from from the track on Wednesday evening. Two members of the team asked to return to the UK after the incident, he reported. 

Bahrain, the base for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, has been hit by near daily violence between security forces and protesters from the country's Shiite majority seeking to break the Sunni monarchy's tight grip on power. Washington has only gently prodded its Saudi-allied rulers to improve human rights and push forward political reforms. Thirty-five people were killed during the uprising last year, including five from torture, as well as security personnel

The Bahrain GP is the nation's biggest sports event, drawing a worldwide TV audience of about 100 million in 187 countries. It brought in a half-billion dollars in 2010 and 100,000 visitors, Reuters cited global risk analysis group Maplecroft as saying. Such an infusion is desperately needed in a country whose economy contracted 50 percent last year due to the unrest, Maplecroft said.

PhotoBlog: Bahrain protesters clash with police after funeral

John Yates, Britain's former Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner advising Bahrain on policing strategy, and a NBC counter-terrorist expert, said protests had been expected and planned for. 

AFP - Getty Images

Shiite female democracy activists, waving national flags,call for Formula One to be canceled in the town of Isa on Wednesday.

"Everyone is expecting more protests leading up to this event," he told msnbc.com.  "That is properly catered for and not unexpected. (The) sense I have and I hope it is not a complacent one is that everyone is here to enjoy the event and they’re excellent plans."

"Nobody anywhere can guarantee 100 percent security," he added.

'Should not be politicized'
Organizers have also repeatedly insisted the race will be safe and that security fears are overblown. They have blamed extremist groups using "scare-mongering tactics" for raising doubts about the race and have employed everyone from Bahrain football coach Peter Taylor to Yates, to assure race teams and fans that the race will be problem-free. 

Rather than sewing divisions, organizers say have insisted the race can unite the country. They have spent heavily for the past weeks on events aimed at promoting the race, even rolling out a new slogan Unif1ed-One Nation in Celebration.

Amnesty: Tear gas used on Bahrain protesters kills

"This race is more than a mere global sport event and should not be politicized to serve certain goals, which may be detrimental to this international gathering," said Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa as he toured the Bahrain International Circuit on Tuesday. He owns the rights to the grand prix and serves as commander of the armed forces. 

On Wednesday, security forces fired stun grenades at largely Shiite demonstrators at a cultural exhibition for the Formula One races. The clashes sent both demonstrators and people attending the exhibit running for cover in a potential blow to Bahrain's efforts to use this weekend's race as a sign of stability after 14 months of unrest. 

The protesters chanted slogans against the race, which was canceled last year. They also called for the release of a jailed activist on a hunger strike lasting more than two months. 

Bahrain to citizens living abroad: Spy on countrymen, no protests permitted

"The regime was isolated because of the crimes it committed and the Bahrain Grand Prix is giving a way out for the government, especially the royal family," Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, told Reuters. "We need this regime to be punished for the crimes it has committed in the past year and half." 

Yates countered that Bahrain had been targeted by the international media, and accused some human rights groups and journalists with "rank hypocrisy."

He added:"China last weekend held a race. (There was) no comment about a place with the worst human rights record ... Bahrain has admitted they got things wrong last year, I have stated categorically they got things wrong, I have used the words 'tragic' and 'appalling.'... (The government) said they're willing to change, to make some very significant changes in their approach to human rights."

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Khalil Al-A'nei / EPA

Iraqi firefighters work at the site of a bomb attack in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday.

More than 20 bombs hit cities and towns across Iraq Thursday, killing at least 36 and wounding more than 100, police and hospital sources said, raising fears of sectarian strife in a country keen to show it can now maintain security. 

In Baghdad, three car bombs, two roadside bombs and one suicide car bomb hit mainly Shiite areas in what looked like coordinated attacks, killing 15 people and wounding 61, the sources said. 

 Two car bombs and three roadside bombs aimed at police and army patrols in the northern oil city of Kirkuk killed eight people and wounded 26, police and hospital sources said. 

"I was trying to stop traffic to let a police patrol pass. When it passed, a car bomb exploded and I fell on the ground and police took me to the hospital," a policeman wounded in the face and chest told Reuters as doctors tended his wounds. He declined to be named. 

Heightened tension between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds in the fragile coalition government since U.S. troops withdrew in December has raised fears of a return to sectarian violence of the kind that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war a few years ago. 

The country is less violent than at the height of that conflict in 2006-07, but bombings and killings still happen daily, often aimed at Shiite areas and local security forces. 

Kirkuk, home to Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and others, is at the heart of a long-running dispute between the central government and the autonomous Kurdish region, which claims the city and the region's rich oil reserves. 

The rift between Baghdad and the Kurds recently worsened when the Kurdistan Regional Government said it was halting oil exports because the central government was not paying oil firms operating in the north. 

The government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is anxious to show it can keep the country secure and attract investment following the withdrawal of U.S. troops. 

Baghdad hosted an Arab League summit last month, its first for 20 years, and it passed off relatively peacefully amid a massive security lockdown.

Attacks in Iraq are mostly blamed on Sunni Arab insurgents who have refused to lay down arms after the withdrawal of U.S. forces in December.

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