President Barack Obama on Thursday defended his nuclear diplomacy with Iran before an audience of Israeli diplomats and senior members of the U.S. Jewish community and officials.

At a White House Hanukkah reception, Obama said that it was important for the United States to test Iran's intentions, and pledged to keep working for a comprehensive deal to deprive Tehran of a nuclear weapon.

Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani met Thursday in Muscat with Oman's Sultan Qaboos, as Tehran seeks to mend ties with Gulf states, ONA state news agency said.

Tehran enjoys good relations with Muscat, but is locked in a decades-long rivalry with Saudi Arabia, while some other Gulf countries are wary of the ambitions of their neighbor across the water.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday a peace conference on Syria slated for January should lay the groundwork for "absolutely free" elections.

"The ground should be prepared for holding an absolutely free election with no preconditions," Rouhani told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the presidency website reported.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's accusation that militants linked to Riyadh were behind the deadly attack on the Iranian embassy last month drew a sharp retort from al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri.

Nasrallah  told OTV in an interview on Tuesday that militants with links to the Saudi intelligence were involved in the double suicide bombings that targeted the Iranian Embassy in Beirut's southern suburbs.

The White House warned Congress Tuesday that passing new sanctions -- even with a delayed launch date -- would give Iran an excuse to undermine an interim nuclear deal.

White House spokesman Jay Carney also warned a bipartisan coalition of senators who are suspicions of the deal reached last month and want to pile up more punishments for Tehran, that their move would be seen as a show of "bad faith" by U.S. partners abroad.

Britain's new envoy to Tehran visited Iran on Tuesday, becoming the first British diplomat to travel to the country since ties were severed in 2011, the Foreign Office in London said.

Ajay Sharma, who is making his first trip in his new role as non-resident charge d'affaires, held "detailed and constructive" talks with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Habibollah-Zadeh and other officials.

Britain's new envoy to Tehran visits Iran Tuesday for the first time since a thaw in relations between the two countries who severed ties two years ago, his Iranian counterpart said Monday.

Hassan Habibollah-Zadeh told the official IRNA news agency that following that visit he would travel to London, reflecting the recent improvement of bilateral ties.

Afghans refugees living in Iran are being plunged deeper into poverty as sanctions slapped on Tehran over its disputed nuclear drive sap the economy, a refugee agency has warned.

"Sanctions on Iran have been bad news for both Afghan refugees and for humanitarian operations," Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), told Agence France Presse during a visit to Tehran this week.

Iranian state television is reporting that the number of HIV-positive citizens in the country has skyrocketed over the last decade.

On Sunday, state television quoted Health Minister Hassan Ghzaizadeh as saying there has been a nine-fold growth in the number of HIV/AIDS patients in the decade.

Iran will decide the level of uranium enrichment in its nuclear program based on its energy and other civilian needs, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in remarks reported Saturday.

His remarks appeared to conflict with the landmark nuclear deal struck with world powers in Geneva last weekend, which states that the enrichment level must be mutually defined and agreed upon by both sides in further negotiations.