Iran official denies comments on nuke talks: TV

A top Iranian nuclear official has denied saying that Tehran was ready to hold talks with the West on its atomic drive "without preconditions," state television reported on Tuesday.

"No comments or interview with TV networks have been made on nuclear talks or conditions," the television quoted Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, as saying.

The television had earlier quoted Soltanieh as saying: "Negotiations without preconditions is Iran's main stance on the nuclear issue."

Instead, Soltanieh said he had referred to a letter he sent to the IAEA calling for the U.N. nuclear watchdog's September meeting to approve an initiative to prohibit armed attacks against nuclear facilities around the world.

"The only issue that was raised was to ban threats and attacks on the world's nuclear installations, because it is an international issue," he said, the television reported.

U.S. President Barack Obama has given Iran until September to take up an offer by world powers of talks if it freezes uranium enrichment, or face harsher sanctions.

The only issue that was raised was to ban threats and attacks on the world's nuclear installations, because it is an international issue

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran envoy to IAEA

Nuclear program

Iranian officials have made similar statements in the past. But political turmoil in the Islamic state following its disputed June presidential election appeared to have dimmed prospects for dialogue on the nuclear row.

The West suspects Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, says its program is aimed at peaceful power generation and has ruled out suspending or freezing its nuclear activities.

The poll and its turbulent aftermath have plunged Iran into its biggest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, exposing deepening divisions within its ruling elite and also further straining relations with the West.

Obama's offer of engagement with Iran if it "unclenched its fist" ran into trouble after Iran accused the United States and other Western nations of inciting protests after the election, and Washington strongly condemned the government's crackdown.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has signaled a tougher approach towards the West, declaring last month that his next government "would bring down the global arrogance", a term used to refer to the United States and its allies.

Ahmadinejad's reformist opponents say the June vote was rigged to secure his re-election. He denies it.

Deadline

Obama initially set an end-of-year deadline to review his administration's policy of engagement with Iran but then brought that forward to late September, to coincide with the next G-20 gathering of rich and emerging nations.

Tehran has withheld a concrete answer for months in what, diplomats say, amounts to buying time for enrichment expansion.

Asked about the September deadline, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said last week: "The Iranian people always welcome dialogue, but within a framework which safeguards our national interests."

"Naturally we are serious in defending our nuclear rights ... and we will not accept any limitations in this regard," he said.

The last time Iran held talks with major powers on its nuclear program was in July 2008 in Geneva. The six powers involved in the issue are: the United States, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain.

Soltanieh reiterated that Iran's nuclear work was peaceful and that it was being supervised by experts and hidden cameras of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Iranian people always welcome dialogue, but within a framework which safeguards our national interests

Hassan Qashqavi, Iran Foreign Ministry