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VIENNA

Iran dismissed on Tuesday as "fabricated ambiguities" suspicions that it has carried out nuclear arms research, a day after it came under renewed Western pressure to help clear up U.N. watchdog concerns about its atomic energy program.

Addressing an annual meeting of the 162-nation International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], senior Iranian official Behrouz Kamalvandi also said Iran was committed to trying to reach a negotiated solution to its decade-old nuclear dispute with the West.

However, measures such as sanctions or double standard approaches certainly harm the negotiating process and cause further mistrust," said Kamalvandi.

He urged world powers -- which resumed talks with Iran in New York last week -- to take "constructive and realistic approaches" and fully respect Iran's nuclear rights in order to end what he called an "unnecessary" crisis.

The United States and the European Union, in statements to the IAEA conference on Monday, called on Iran to cooperate with the U.N. agency's long-stalled investigation into allegations that Tehran has worked on designing a nuclear weapon.

Iran rejected the accusations as baseless. It has promised to work with the IAEA since Hassan Rouhani became president last year on a platform to end its international isolation.

But an IAEA report issued in early September showed Iran had failed to answer questions by an Aug. 25 deadline about what the U.N. agency calls the possible military dimensions of the country's nuclear program.

"It is essential and urgent that Iran cooperates fully with the agency regarding possible military dimensions," the 28-nation EU told the week-long, IAEA member state meeting.

Western officials say this is needed if Iran wants to reach a broader diplomatic deal with the six major powers to curb its atomic activities in exchange for a gradual end to sanctions that are severely hurting its oil-dependent economy.

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Iran Calls Nuclear Suspicions 'Fabricated Ambiguities'