Iran executed Saturday a 26-year-old woman who had spent five years on death row for the murder of a former intelligence official, defying international pressure to spare her life.

Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged at dawn, the official IRNA news agency quoted the Tehran prosecutor's office as saying.

A top European Union official said he informed Lebanese officials during his visit to Beirut that the presidential and parliamentary elections should be held to have a healthy democracy

Hugues Mingarelli, who is the Managing Director for North Africa, Middle East, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq at the European External Action Service, said: “You have a democracy and there are routine elections and a multi-party system.”

America's top negotiator leading talks to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions Thursday called on Iranian leaders to "make the right choice," saying now was the time to reach a deal.

"If Iran truly wants to resolve its differences with the international community -- and facilitate the lifting of economic sanctions -- it will have no better chance than between now and November 24," Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman said.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Spain next week before heading to China for the fourth regional conference on Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday.

The trip to Madrid is to expand bilateral ties, ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said at her weekly press briefing in Tehran, without confirming Zarif's day of departure.

The chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the clerics who appoint and can dismiss the country's supreme leader, has died, four months after suffering a heart attack, state media reported Tuesday.

Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, 83, died of heart failure, the official IRNA news agency said, opening up a vacancy near the top of Iran's power structure.

Expert-level talks between Iran and world powers aimed at clearing the path toward a nuclear deal will be held Wednesday and Thursday in Vienna, a top Iranian official said.

Iran and the P5+1 group of nations (Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany) are seeking a comprehensive agreement over Tehran's nuclear program by a November 24 deadline.

Iran has summoned the Pakistani ambassador and demanded immediate steps to stop attacks by "terrorists and rebels" that sparked deadly clashes on the countries' border, state media reported Sunday.

Noor Muhammad Jadmani was called to the foreign ministry on Saturday evening following the deaths in the restive border province of Sistan-Baluchistan, the official IRNA news agency said,.

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel on Saturday started a three-day visit to Tehran for talks expected to culminate in him securing military equipment to bolster Lebanon's fight against jihadists.

His visit comes two weeks after Iran vowed to supply the Lebanese army with much-needed equipment following its deadly clashes with fighters from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida affiliate, al-Nusra Front, on the Syrian border in August.

Two Iranian border guards and a Pakistani paramilitary officer were killed in a shooting incident, sources on the two sides said Friday, as Tehran said rebels tried to infiltrate the country.

"Several rebels" also died in the fighting Thursday night, Iran's news agency ISNA quoted a military official as saying, adding that a car and weapons were seized.

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel is expected to discuss with Iranian officials in Tehran over the weekend a recent pledge to give military assistance to Lebanon to help its fight against extremists.

Moqbel is not entitled to sign any agreement or make any commitment to the Iranian grant, As Safir daily reported on Friday.