Gharibabadi said in a post on X that the talks in Vienna with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had been "frank and constructive".

"While safeguarding its national security and interests, Iran remains committed to cooperating with the IAEA within the framework of its safeguards' obligation," he said, referring to agency protocols aimed at deterring the spread of nuclear weapons.

In a post of his own, Grossi said cooperation was "indispensable to provide credible guarantees of the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program".

Earlier Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the meeting was a "part of our ongoing engagement with the agency".

The discussions in the Austrian capital come after Gharibabadi took part in talks with his Russian and Chinese counterparts in Beijing on Friday.

"As threats against Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities have increased, it is natural for us to intensify consultations with the IAEA," Baqaei said.

On March 7, US President Donald Trump said he had written to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging new talks on the country's nuclear programme, but warning of possible military action if it refused.

Iran has confirmed receiving the letter, with Baqaei saying Monday it would respond "once the assessment is complete".

For decades, Western countries led by the United States have suspected Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran rejects these claims, insisting its nuclear activities are solely for peaceful purposes, including energy production.

In 2015, Iran signed an agreement with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany to limit its nuclear activities.

But Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018.

Tehran remained committed to its obligations under the deal for year but then started to roll back from them, increasing uranium enrichment levels up to 60 percent.

The levels are much closer to the 90 percent threshold required to develop a nuclear bomb, and far above Iran's enrichment cap of 3.67 percent under the deal.

In recent months, Iran has held several rounds of talks with Britain, France and Germany in a bid to revive the agreement, which had lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities.

mz-ap-rkh/smw

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