Iran has rejected a report by an American daily saying that the Islamic Republic was ready for direct nuclear talks with Washington, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

USA Today, a widely circulated daily in the United States, reported on Monday that Iran's ambassador to France Sadeq Kharrazi had said Iran was open to one-on-one talks with the United States and Tehran is ready to hold negotiations with Washington in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Rejecting the report, Kharrazi reiterated that Iran "sees no urgency in holding talks with the United States" under the condition of mutual respect, said IRNA.

"The official policy of the government is to have no direct and official talks with the US administration on nuclear issues," Kharrazi was quoted as saying.

Washington and Tehran cut diplomatic relations after Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979 and has imposed policy of hostility towards each other since then.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly and calls on the international community to impose economic sanctions on the country to prevent it from obtaining atomic weapons.

Iran rejects the charge as politically motivated and has been holding talks on its nuclear program with the European Union.

However, the bilateral nuclear negotiations have been stalled for about two months since Tehran defiantly resumed its highly sensitive nuclear activities in early August.

Tehran has announced that it would like to resume the talks, suggesting to involve new members to the negotiations.

Source: Xinhua