Iranian police wounded five armed thugs in a rare shootout in Tehran, local media reported on Monday, quoting a senior police officer.

"There were some armed clashes when some thugs used firearms as the police tried to arrest them," Tehran police chief Hossein Sajedinia was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency, without specifying when the incident occurred.

The chief U.N. nuclear inspector returned Friday from Iran without a hoped-for deal on investigating its nuclear program, dampening hopes of progress in renewed talks with world powers.

Instead all the team led by Herman Nackaerts of the International Atomic Energy Agency returned to Vienna with was an arrangement to meet in the Iranian capital again on February 12.

Experts from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency held a second day of talks in Tehran on Thursday aimed at finding a way forward in resolving perennial concerns over Tehran's nuclear program.

The talks mark the second round of negotiations, in little over than a month, between a team led by the International Atomic Energy Agency's chief inspector Herman Nackaerts and one headed by Tehran's IAEA representative Ali Ashghar Soltanieh, the ISNA news agency reported.

Iran's announcement that it will make its own film to counter the "distorted" thriller "Argo" is fueling a debate about Hollywood and historical accuracy, sparked by Ben Affleck's Oscar-tipped movie.

The film, which won the top two Golden Globes last weekend and is nominated for seven prizes at next month's Academy Awards, tells the story of a bold CIA operation to rescue six U.S. diplomats trapped by the 1979 hostage crisis.

Opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi's son has been handed a suspended six-month prison sentence for anti-regime conduct, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Wednesday quoting an unnamed source.

Iran's "revolutionary court has sentenced Mohammad Hossein Karroubi to a six-month jail term... for disturbing public opinion against the Islamic regime through giving interviews to foreign media," Fars quoted the source as saying.

Two Iranians on trial for an alleged botched bomb plot against Israeli diplomats in Bangkok appeared in court again Tuesday as their Thai lawyer protested their innocence.

Mohammad Khazaei, 42, and Saeid Moradi, 29, are among five Iranians suspected of involvement in the February 2012 blasts, that followed attacks in India and Georgia and saw Tehran accused of a terror campaign.

Tehran hosts the U.N. atomic agency for talks on Wednesday, marking the start of a new and perhaps last-ditch diplomatic push aimed at resolving the crisis over Iran's nuclear program peacefully.

The visit comes ahead of the first talks since June between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France -- and Germany, possibly later this month.

KLM says the company will cancel its flights to Iran as of April, leaving Germany's Lufthansa as the sole Western European-based carrier offering services to Tehran.

Turkish Airlines, which has its headquarters in Istanbul on the European side of The Bosphorus, also flies to Iran.

Iran has denied U.S. media reports it carried out cyber attacks on U.S. banks, the official IRNA news agency said Friday, quoting a statement from Tehran's U.N. mission.

"The Islamic republic of Iran categorically denies any involvement in cyber attacks on American banks and denounces such methods which are a violation of the sovereignty of nations," the statement said.

A U.S. submarine's periscope struck a vessel in the Gulf on Thursday but apparently caused no major damage or injuries, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

The USS Jacksonville, a Los Angeles-class sub, "struck a vessel while operating in the Persian Gulf" at about 5:00 am local time (0200 GMT), the statement said.