Report says US officials taking nuke deal talks into consideration; 15th Khordad Foundation, semi-official Fars news agency named as groups that offered money for bounty on author

Incident follows similar defacement of icon of Iranian general Solemiani, which Tehran blames on 'counter-revolutionary agents'

Abolhassan Banisadr helped facilitate Ayatollah Khomeni's rise to power following shah's deposal but was impeached after 16 months by hardliners, leading him to flee to France

Rights group says Raisi was member of 'Death Commission' that forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in secret thousands of opposition prisoners in 1988

Defense minister spotted with tome on sharia law, possibly signaling to ayatollahs he's on to them, or showing Israelis he's as smart as iconic bookworm politicians of the past

Demonstrators gather in front of the former US mission in downtown Tehran as tensions remain high over the country's collapsing nuclear deal with world powers

Mutual suspicion between Washington and Tehran has reached a level unseen since the Islamic Revolution, with people continuing to be used as bargaining chips