国际英语新闻：Iran's Foreign Ministry denies Iran, U.S. meeting in Moscow

TEHRAN, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry denied on Monday the meeting between Iranian and the U.S. officials in Moscow, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    An informed source in the ministry said to IRNA's political correspondent on Monday that the Sunday's news of the Weekly Sunday Times concerning the meeting between Tehran and Washington's representatives in Russia is baseless and its verity is denied, the report said.

    "The Iranian delegation participating in Afghanistan conference in Moscow was not tasked on this subject and no meeting was held," the source added.

    "Iranian and the U.S. officials have held their first talks about ending the war in Afghanistan amid signs President Barack Obama's efforts to thaw relations with Tehran are paying off," the paper reported on Sunday.

    "While television cameras focused on Mr. Obama in Washington during the unveiling of his strategy for Afghanistan at the weekend, U.S. and Iranian diplomats were holding a remarkable meeting in Moscow," the weekly paper added.

    The U.S. diplomat for central Asia attended the meeting with Iran's deputy foreign minister, officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan, and UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon in Moscow on Sunday.

    The Iranian foreign minister and his U.S. counterpart will attend another meeting Tuesday on Afghanistan with delegations from more than 100 countries and international bodies to be held in Hague, Netherlands.

    The U.S. accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons and supporting terrorism. Iran denies both charges.

    Tehran and Washington severed relations after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.