The United States on Monday announced a $5 million increased reward for information leading to the return of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, as it marked the eighth anniversary of his mysterious disappearance in Iran.

The FBI had previously issued a $1 million reward for Levinson's return in 2012, five years after he went missing.

A young Iranian woman accused of marrying -- and divorcing -- 10 men in less than two years under an elaborate con trick has been charged with fraud, state media reported Sunday.

The alleged deception was made possible under Islamic rules that entitle a woman to a financial sum agreed before marriage but retrievable "on demand" any time after a ceremony takes place.

Minister of the Displaced Alice Shabtini has noted that Lebanon will not have a president before Iran and the United States reach a final nuclear agreement, as she pointed out that Hizbullah is “clinging to its arms because it is defending itself.”

“There is no possibility to elect a president before an agreement is reached between Iran and the U.S.,” Shabtini, who is one of three ministers loyal to ex-president Michel Suleiman, said.

The U.S.-led coalition carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State group must try to protect archaeological sites being destroyed by the jihadists, Iraq's tourism and antiquities minister said Sunday.

IS smashed priceless artefacts at the Mosul museum, then bulldozed the city of Nimrud, which was founded in the 13th century BC.

A French fighter for the Islamic State painted life in the so-called caliphate as a civilized place, in a video posted by the extremist group Saturday.

The IS group said the narrative of the approximately 65-year-old former army trainer and businessman it dubbed as Abu Suhayb al-Faransi marked the first episode of a new series, according to the U.S.-based SITE monitoring network.

Iran has yet to prove to the world it wants a peaceful nuclear program, top U.S. diplomat John Kerry said Saturday, warning with his French counterpart that gaps still had to be overcome to clinch a deal.

"Critical weeks" lie ahead as a March 31 deadline looms to seal a political framework on reining in Iran's suspect atomic program, Kerry said after meeting with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

International rights group Amnesty International condemned Iranian authorities Friday for what it said was the "unspeakably cruel" blinding of a man on the grounds of retribution.

The man was forcibly blinded in his left eye Tuesday under the principle of "qisas" -- an eye for an eye -- at a prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, Amnesty said.

The United States on Wednesday warned an offensive to retake control of the Iraqi city of Tikrit from Islamic State militants must not fuel sectarian tensions.

"It is important -- and (Iraqi) Prime Minister (Haider al-)Abadi himself has indicated... that this operation should not be used as an excuse or as cover for individuals taking sectarian-motivated retribution," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. 

Argentine prosecutors said Wednesday they have appealed a judge's decision to dismiss their case against President Cristina Kirchner for allegedly protecting Iranian officials accused of orchestrating a 1994 bombing.

Prosecutors are seeking to relaunch the case that was being brought by their late colleague Alberto Nisman, who died mysteriously on January 18 after accusing Kirchner of shielding high-ranking Iranians suspected of ordering the deadly bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish center.

Speaker Nabih Berri warned on Wednesday against plans to fragment the region, including Lebanon.

He said during his weekly meeting with lawmakers at his Ain el-Tineh residence: “Lebanon is like the atom. If it is split, then it will explode, as will the region around it.”