Iran is moving to finalize plans with Russia to build at least two more nuclear power plants on the Islamic republic's southern Gulf shores, media reports said on Monday.

The announcement came as Russia's Rosatom deputy chief Nikolai Spassky arrived in Tehran for a two-day visit during which he will meet senior nuclear officials.

U.S. President Barack Obama has warned that extremist militants who have surged through Iraq in a lightning and brutal offensive could also destabilize other countries in the volatile region.

The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is rampaging towards the capital Baghdad in its bid to create an Islamic state that will incorporate both Iraq and Syria.

A stunning injury time strike from Lionel Messi spared Argentina's blushes as they qualified for the last 16 of the World Cup with a hard fought 1-0 win over Iran in Belo Horizonte.

Argentina had been thankful to three fine second-half saves from goalkeeper Sergio Romero just to be level heading into stoppage time, whilst Iran had also had a strong penalty appeal waved away when Pablo Zabaleta appeared to foul Ashkan Dejagah inside the area.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that Iran's judiciary must be independent from the political fray and uphold the rule of law, in a rare criticism of the conservative-dominated body.

The self-declared moderate president was speaking at a gathering of hundreds of judges, among them judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani.

Iran has sent "small numbers" of operatives into Iraq to bolster the Shiite-led government in Baghdad but there is no sign of a major deployment of army units, the Pentagon said Friday. 

"There are some Iranian revolutionary operatives in Iraq but I've seen no indication of ground forces or major units," spokesman Admiral John Kirby told a news conference, apparently referring to Tehran's Quds force, the covert arm of the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran has sentenced to 10 years in prison a man convicted of spying for Britain and gave another a five-year jail term for allegedly collaborating with Israel, media said Friday.

The report carried by the official news agency IRNA came after Britain announced on Tuesday plans to reopen its embassy in Tehran, ending a three-year diplomatic freeze.

U.S. President Barack Obama lacks "serious will" to combat terrorism, a top Iranian official said Friday after an Iraqi appeal for American airstrikes went unanswered.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian's comments followed a statement from Obama on the Iraq crisis in which he pledged to send military advisors to Baghdad but stopped short of further action at this stage.

A critical round of talks between Iran and world powers over Tehran's controversial nuclear program entered its fifth day on Friday with both sides saying major differences remained.

The talks in Vienna are aimed at securing by July 20 a mammoth deal to reduce the program and ease fears the Islamic republic will get atomic weapons.

The number of people driven from their homes by conflict and crisis has topped 50 million for the first time since World War II, with Syria hardest hit, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.

The UNHCR said there were 51.2 million forcibly displaced people at the end of 2013, a full six million higher than the previous year.

A university professor faces 18 months in jail for questioning the merit of Iran's nuclear program and for asking if a businessman convicted of fraud should have been executed.

Sadeq Zibakalam said on his Facebook page that he was found guilty by a Revolutionary Court of "committing propaganda against the system, spreading rumors and insulting the judiciary."