Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki here Sunday accused the United States of trying to impede its ties with Russia, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

"The United States has always resisted the growing ties between Iran and Russia and has sought to undermine the positions and interests of the two countries," Mottaki was quoted as saying.

Mottaki made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kisliak on Moscow's proposal on the Iranian nuclear dispute.

Kisliak leads a Russian delegation with Deputy Secretary of the Security Council Valentin Sobolev, which arrived here late Friday.

Russia suggested in late December that the two sides establish a joint venture in Russia to enrich uranium for Iran, but Tehran rejected it as an immature structure rather than a proposal and called on Moscow to further complement and support it.

During the meeting with Kisliak, the Iranian foreign minister stressed the necessity for the two countries to continue constructive negotiations in various fields including peaceful nuclear activities, saying Iranian officials "will study the Russian proposal and announce their suggestions".

Meanwhile, Mottaki was also quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that Russia's approach towards Iran's peaceful nuclear activities had always been based on resolving the issue within the framework and regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog.

Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid- Reza Asefi termed as positive the ongoing talks between officials of the two sides, which were kicked off on Saturday.

Asefi also reconfirmed that Iran would resume its nuclear fuel research work on Monday regardless of the European Union's strong opposition.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, a charge rejected by Tehran as politically motivated.

Based on Washington's accusation that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons secretly, the EU insists that Iran's complete command of uranium enrichment could lead to military use of the technology.

Source: Xinhua