Iran's foreign minister held talks Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates in Tehran's latest effort to mend fences with Gulf states suspicious of its nuclear program and regional ambitions.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also the ruler of Dubai, home to a sizable Iranian community, the WAM state news agency reported.

A U.N. human rights monitor on Monday urged Tehran to halt the planned execution of an Iranian woman for the alleged murder of a former intelligence official, saying her trial had been deeply flawed.

The case of Reyhaneh Jabbari, who claims she acted in self-defense after a sexual assault, raises concerns because of her alleged forced confession and a court failure to consider all the evidence, said Ahmed Shaheed.

Iran on Monday urged United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to intervene directly in a row sparked by America's refusal to give Tehran's chosen U.N. envoy a visa.

The spat over Hamid Aboutalebi has undermined a cautious thaw in relations after decades of enmity following the storming of the U.S. embassy in 1979 and the subsequent hostage crisis.

Israel's intelligence minister Monday slammed as unacceptable comments by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program which he said indicated a "surrender" to Tehran.

"The things Kerry said in the Congress are worrying, they are surprising and they are unacceptable," Yuval Steinitz, who is also strategic affairs minister, told public radio.

The United States' refusal to issue a visa to Iran's pick for U.N. ambassador is not impacting talks over the country's disputed nuclear program, Washington's envoy to the United Nations said Sunday.

Washington has said it won't issue a visa to newly appointed Hamid Aboutalebi, who has been linked to the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis.

Iran signalled its defiance Saturday over America's refusal to grant a visa to its chosen U.N. ambassador, saying it does not plan to pick an alternative envoy.

Tehran also said it was examining its legal options over the row, which has undermined a cautious thaw in relations after decades of enmity following the storming of the U.S. embassy in 1979 and the hostage crisis that followed.

Pakistan's interior ministry Thursday cast doubt on claims by a Baluch separatist group that it carried out a bombing at a market in Islamabad that killed 24 people.

The United Baluch Army (UBA), one of a number of militant separatist outfits from the southwestern province of Baluchistan, said it staged the attack -- the deadliest in the Pakistani capital since 2008.

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz will travel to Israel and Iran later this month, the ministry announced on Wednesday, as talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear program ended in Vienna.

"A date has not been set but the trip to Iran will probably be in late April," ministry spokesman Martin Weiss told Agence France Presse.

Iran described as "unacceptable" Wednesday a decision by the United States to deny a visa to Tehran's newly appointed U.N. ambassador over his alleged links to the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis.

The clash over the nomination threatens to complicate a key moment in the easing of relations between Washington and Tehran as both sides strive to conclude a deal on the Islamic republic's nuclear program.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated Wednesday his support for ongoing nuclear talks with world powers, while insisting that Tehran's atomic program would carry on.

He spoke as negotiators for Iran and the so-called P5+1 group started a second day of talks in Vienna aimed at hammering out a final deal over Tehran's contested nuclear program by a July 20 deadline.