TEHRAN (Reuters) -- Iran has not yet given its response to a UN-drafted nuclear fuel deal and is ready for more talks based on its "economic and technical concerns", the official IRNA news agency has quoted an informed source as saying.
The report looked likely to add to Western suspicions that Tehran is seeking to buy time to blunt pressure for harsher international sanctions while it presses on with its disputed nuclear program.
Apparently referring to a message delivered by Tehran to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna on October 29, IRNA quoted its source as saying:
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has announced its positive viewpoint towards the talks and said that it is ready to continue the talks over the UN-drafted deal based upon its economic and technical concerns."
Tehran's message to the UN nuclear agency was not an answer to the draft deal, the source said, IRNA reported.
The source added that "even if a next round of talks was held Iran would announce its opinion and not an answer."