An Iranian deputy foreign minister says Iran will hold one-on-one talks with six world powers over the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy program ahead of a scheduled high-level meeting in September, PressTV reported.
"Iran will definitely hold bilateral talks with the P5+1 group ahead of the scheduled [high-level] meeting between [Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad] Zarif and [EU foreign policy chief] Catherine Ashton on the sidelines of the [annual gathering of the] UN General Assembly," Deputy Foreign Minister for Europe and Americas' Affairs Majid Takht-e-Ravanchi said on Saturday.
"The exact timetable and venue of the meetings have not been determined yet," he added.
Earlier this week, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said Iran and the six powers - the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany - will meet ahead of this September's UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
On Thursday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns in Geneva to discuss ways to bridge differences in the course of talks over Tehran's nuclear work.
Washington has hailed the Thursday bilateral nuclear talks with Iran. "It was, I would say, a constructive discussion," US State Department spokeswoman, Marie Harf, told reporters in Washington, adding, "We're not going to get into details."
Iran and its six negotiating partners are holding talks to reach a final agreement aimed at resolving the standoff over Tehran's civilian nuclear work.
The two sides signed a historic interim deal in Geneva last November. The agreement entered into force on January 20 and expired six months later on July 20.
In July, Tehran and the six states agreed to extend their discussions until November 24 in a bid to work out a final accord.