Iran denies news of "direct negotiations to restore nuclear deal"

Iran's Foreign Ministry has denied media reports that the country and the United States will hold direct talks in the coming weeks on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal and lifting sanctions.

Such information has no credibility whatsoever, the ministry said in a statement on September 26.

Earlier the same day, several Iranian media outlets reported that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani would meet with Brett McGurk, Deputy Assistant to US President Joe Biden and White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, in Oman in the coming weeks.

The sources also said that the two officials held the meeting to hold direct talks on restoring the nuclear deal.

Iranian officials have repeatedly denied the possibility of direct talks with the US, but have said they have been communicating indirectly with the US through intermediaries in recent months.

On September 25, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami said that despite unilateral sanctions, Tehran will continue its "peaceful activities" in the field of nuclear science and technology, aiming to improve the welfare of its people.

According to Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA, Mr. Eslami made this statement in a speech at the 67th Session of the General Assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), taking place in Vienna, Austria.

Mr. Eslami affirmed that Iran will continue to design and develop nuclear research reactors, accelerators and irradiation systems as planned for peaceful purposes.

According to the official, Iran also pledged to increase nuclear power output to 20,000 megawatts per year by 2040.

According to him, Iran remains committed to fulfilling its obligations under the agreement reached with the IAEA and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and has tried its best to make it easier for the agency to carry out verification activities on Tehran's nuclear program.

Meanwhile, the US has set conditions for resuming negotiations with Iran on the nuclear issue. Speaking at a press conference on September 26, US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said that Iran must take steps to "de-escalate" its nuclear program if it wants to create diplomatic space with the US.

Such steps would need to start with Iran cooperating with the IAEA, the spokesman added. Miller highlighted the steps he was talking about as a potential prelude to resuming direct or indirect US-Iranian talks on Iran’s nuclear program, but did not provide further details.