Iran stepped up its crackdown on Monday after recent protests, making more arrests while holding the door open to Washington for further nuclear negotiations.

The arrests -- including that of Javad Emam, the spokesperson for the main reformist coalition -- came after Iranian and US officials held talks in Oman that both sides painted as positive.

On Saturday, Iran heaped more jail time on Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, and on Monday arrested Hossein Karoubi, the son of prominent dissident Mehdi Karoubi.

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate said on Monday they were deeply concerned by the revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files amid further damning disclosures about the heir-to-the-throne's uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles who had already been cast out of the royal inner circle over his close relationship with Epstein, has faced fresh scrutiny since the recent publication of millions of new documents relating to the late convicted U.S. sex offender.

DUBAI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Ali Larijani, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and secretary of its national security council, will visit Oman on Tuesday following indirect U.S.-Iranian talks there, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

U.S. and Iranian diplomats engaged through Omani mediation in the Gulf Arab state last week in an effort to revive diplomacy amid a U.S. naval buildup near Iran and Tehran's vows of a harsh response if attacked.

By Lucy Papachristou

TBILISI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance will visit Armenia and Azerbaijan this week to push a Washington-brokered peace agreement that could transform energy and trade routes in the strategic South Caucasus region.

His two-day trip to Armenia, which begins later on Monday, comes just six months after the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders signed an agreement at the White House seen as the first step towards peace after nearly 40 years of war.

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William will meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia starting on Monday, an official trip on behalf of the government to deepen ties with the country.

The royal's visit follows a 2025 trip to Saudi by Britain's finance minister, which London said had unlocked trade and investment agreements worth 6.4 billion pounds ($8.71 billion).

Britain's Prince William met Saudi Arabia's de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, kicking off a visit aimed at deepening economic cooperation but overshadowed by his disgraced uncle Andrew's links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) released images of Prince Mohammed giving the heir to the British throne a private tour of the At-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage Site at Diriyah, the first capital of the Saudi state, before a meeting between the two royals.

Feb 9 (Reuters) - The death toll from the collapse of a residential building in the Lebanese city of Tripoli rose to 13, as rescue teams continued to search for missing people beneath the rubble, Lebanon's National News Agency reported on Monday.

Rescue workers in the northern city's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighbourhood have also assisted nine survivors, while the search continued for others still believed to be trapped under the debris, NNA said.

Officials said on Sunday that two adjoining buildings had collapsed.

Sydney police used pepper spray on protesters on Monday as a rally against a visit to Australia by Israel's President Isaac Herzog turned violent.

The head of state's tightly secured, four-day visit was aimed at consoling Australia's Jewish community in the wake of the December shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah festival.

But he was met with protests in Australia's two largest cities on Monday evening, with a Sydney rally turning violent as police hit protesters and members of the media, including AFP, with pepper spray.

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Pro-Palestine demonstrators plan to rally in Sydney on Monday to protest the visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as authorities declared his visit a major event and deployed thousands of police to manage the crowds.

Police have urged the protesters to gather at a central Sydney park for public safety reasons, but protest organisers said they plan to rally at the city's historic Town Hall instead.

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi is in "deteriorating health" after ending a nearly week-long hunger strike, her supporters said Sunday, as authorities handed the campaigner a fresh prison sentence.

Mohammadi, who won the peace prize in 2023, has spent the last two months in prison after speaking out against the government at a funeral ceremony in December.