Iran could agree to dilute its most highly enriched uranium in exchange for all financial sanctions being lifted, the head of the country's atomic energy agency said on Monday.
"The possibility of diluting 60 per cent enriched uranium ... depends on whether, in return, all sanctions are lifted or not," said Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation.
His remarks, reported Iran's Isna news agency, come after American and Iranian diplomats held talks in Oman last week in a renewed attempt to reach a deal over Iran's nuclear programme. US President Donald Trump has sent naval vessels to the region, raising fears of military action.
Mr Eslami said another proposal, to send Iran's highly enriched uranium to another country, had not been discussed.
The talks in Oman followed Tehran's crackdown last month on the biggest anti-government demonstrations since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Thousands of people were killed in the unrest.
Last year, the US joined an Israeli bombing campaign and struck Iranian nuclear sites. Mr Trump last month threatened to intervene militarily during the protests in Iran, but ultimately held off.
Washington has demanded that Tehran relinquish its stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent fissile purity, a small step away from the 90 per cent that is considered weapons grade. The UN nuclear watchdog last year estimated Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium to be more than 440kg.
Meanwhile, Ali Larijani, a close adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and secretary of its national security council, is to visit Oman on Tuesday, the Tasnim news agency reported.
"During this trip, [Mr Larijani] will meet with high-ranking officials of the sultanate of Oman and discuss the latest regional and international developments and bilateral co-operation at various levels," Tasnim added.
The date and venue of the next round of US-Iran talks have not yet been announced. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that the next round would be "an appropriate opportunity for a fair and balanced resolution of this case", and that a desired outcome could be reached if the US avoids maximalist positions and respects its commitments. Iran would continue to demand the lifting of sanctions and insist on its nuclear rights, including enrichment, he added.
Iran and the US last year held five rounds of talks on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme, with the main dispute centred on Iran's uranium enrichment. The talks collapsed after the attacks by the US and Israel.
Since the US struck Iran's nuclear sites, Tehran has said it has halted enrichment activity. It has always said its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
The US wants to include Iran's ballistic missile arsenal in negotiations between the countries, but Tehran has ruled this out. In a televised statement broadcast on Monday, Mr Khamenei called on Iranians to participate in the coming anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
"The presence of the people in the march and their expression of loyalty to the Islamic Republic will cause the enemy to stop coveting Iran," he said.
