Iran pledged to press on with its efforts to develop atomic energy as the United Nations nuclear watchdog started a second day of meetings in Tehran to clarify aspects of the country’s activities.

Iran seeks direct negotiations about its nuclear program at the “earliest possibility,” the country’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, wrote in a Feb. 14 letter to Europe’s foreign policy head Catherine Ashton.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose officials wound up a two-day visit to Tehran on Tuesday, are to hold further negotiations, the country's delegate to the UN watchdog said.

Iran reportedly stated on Tuesday that it would take pre-emptive action against perceived foes as tension rose in the dispute with the West over its suspected nuclear program.

As pressure mounts over Iran's nuclear program, a top Iranian general warned Tuesday that the nation will pre-emptively strike anyone who threatens it.

Iran has laid out conditions for future oil exports to other European countries after halting sales to Britain and France earlier this week, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran would take pre-emptive action against its enemies if it felt its national interests were endangered, the deputy head of the Islamic Republic's armed forces was quoted by a semi-official news agency as saying on Tuesday. "Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran's national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting ...

Iran warned Tuesday it would strike against an "enemy" threatening it if needed to protect its national interests -- even if the enemy didn't attack first.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran expects to hold more talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, it said Tuesday, after a two-day visit by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency aiming to push Tehran toward more transparency over its nuclear program. Senior inspectors from the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had travelled to Iran for the second time in less than a month for ...

A U.N. team visiting Iran has no plans to inspect the country's nuclear facilities and will only hold talks with officials in Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.