Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday it had not been notified of any delay in staging talks with Iran on Moscow's uranium enrichment proposal.

Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying the ministry had not received any official notification of changes to the talks scheduled to begin on Thursday in Moscow and it was "premature" to say they had been postponed or canceled.

As part of international efforts to solve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program, Russia has proposed that uranium enrichment -- the most sensitive part of the nuclear fuel cycle -- be carried out under a joint venture on the former Soviet republic's soil.

Moscow has reiterated its proposal still stands after the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), voted earlier this month to report the Iranian nuclear issue to the UN Security Council.

Iran announced following the vote that it had ended all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA, including snap UN inspections of its nuclear sites and the suspension of uranium enrichment.

Earlier in the day, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak said Russia still expected the talks to be held on Thursday after Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said they had been postponed "due to some new developments."

"Our proposal for the Feb. 16 visit remains in force," Kislyak was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Source: Xinhua