Iran's President Hassan Rouhani signalled Saturday there would be no quick resolution to the house arrest of the reformist political leaders who said an election was rigged in 2009.

Though not mentioned by name, the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi was raised at a press conference to mark the start of Rouhani's third year in office.

Mousavi and Karroubi have been under such restrictions since 2011. Both said that the presidential election two years earlier, which saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad re-elected, was fraudulent.

A reporter asked Rouhani why, despite "reviving" hopes that the two former presidential candidates may be released, though again not naming them, "we have not seen anything" on the issue.

"The government cannot do everything on its own," Rouhani replied, acknowledging that the matter remained unsolved but suggesting it could be ended.

"I have made my efforts for resolving political and social problems but... more explanations can be given at the time within the framework of national interests.

"It is not vital for everything to be announced.

"We must have patience to be able to resolve and finalise issues at an appropriate time."

The question of jailed political prisoners and the house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi has become pertinent as Rouhani said in 2013 before being elected that he hoped it could be tackled.

"I hope that within a year of this election a situation will come about that not only those under house arrest can be freed but also those in prison because of 2009," Rouhani said at a campaign event.

Rouhani's stance appealed to voters from a reformist movement crushed after 2009.

But the issue of Mousavi and Karroubi's fate remains politically explosive -- in January a lawmaker was forcibly stopped from speaking when he said their house arrest was unconstitutional.

The MP, Ali Motahari, has said the detained leaders should be put on trial or freed.

The issue is politically dangerous for Rouhani.

Some of his supporters, including members of his cabinet, have been accused of backing the sedition -- the regime's term for the street protests in which dozens were killed after the 2009 ballot.

Only recently, with the formation of two new political parties, have Iran's reformists begun to re-emerge.

With parliamentary elections scheduled for February 2016, the detentions have slid into view with domestic policy taking on more immediacy following Iran's nuclear deal with world powers.

The talks that led to that agreement dominated Rouhani's first two years in office.

The deal -- which will see international sanctions against Iran lifted in exchange for curbs on the nuclear programme -- has yet to be implemented.

US to Iran: Release Hekmati from 'unjust detention'
Washington (AFP) Aug 28, 2015 - US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday urged Iran to free Amir Hekmati, an American who served as a US Marine, from four years of "unjust detention."

Saturday marks the fourth anniversary of Hekmati's imprisonment on what Kerry called "false espionage charges" while Hekmati was visiting relatives in the Islamic republic.

"We repeat our call on the Iranian government to release Amir on humanitarian grounds," Kerry said in a statement.

"This is a milestone no family wants to mark, and the Hekmati family has shown inspiring perseverance in the face of this injustice," he added.

"And as befits a former Marine, Amir has shown tremendous courage in the face of this unjust detention."

Kerry reiterated his government's call for Iran to release two other Americans.

These include pastor Saeed Abedini, who was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to eight years in jail for gathering a group of people to study the Bible, and Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian.

Kerry also urged Iran to "work cooperatively" to help locate Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared while on Iran's Kish island in 2007.

Several lawmakers and Republican presidential candidates have argued that Washington and the international community should have negotiated the return of the Americans as a condition for finalizing the historic nuclear deal with Iran.

Tel Aviv's 'Iranian embassy' turns out to be atomic hoax
Tel Aviv (AFP) Aug 28, 2015 - A billboard in central Tel Aviv announcing the opening of an Iranian embassy that met with disbelief and curiosity turned out to be a hoax, organisers of the eye-catching stunt have said.

"Opening here soon - Embassy of Iran in Israel," proclaimed the five-storey tall hoarding emblazoned with the Iranian and Israeli flags this week.

Posts on Facebook suggested that the billboard could be an art installation or a private peace campaign by Israelis of Iranian descent.

But the truth was revealed as a massive publicity stunt in a statement Thursday from the makers of a new Israeli film comedy about a nuclear conflict between Tehran and the Jewish state.

"Mystery solved!" it said, announcing "the upcoming launch of (director) Dror Shaul's new film 'Atomic Falafel' an atomic comedy."

Opening locally on September 10, its producer Avraham Pirchi calls it "a satirical comedy mocking ultra-militarism."

Israel and Iran severed diplomatic relations in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution which overthrew Iran's pro-Western shah and installed a theocratic regime which did not recognise Israel.

The Jewish State vehemently opposes the nuclear deal reached in mid-July between Iran and major powers which will lead to the lifting of economic sanctions against Tehran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes the agreement is not strict enough to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons which it could use against Israel and reserved the right to stage a pre-emptive strike if necessary.