An Iranian diplomat said this evening that Tehran "relates positively" to calls for it to sign a protocol allowing closer inspections of its nuclear facilities, the Interfax news agency has reported.
Iran has not signed the document despite similar statements in the past.
Amid international concern that Iran might be pursuing nuclear weapons, the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, wants Iran to sign an additional protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that would permit agency inspectors to visit any part of its nuclear industry without prior notice.
"We relate positively to signing the protocol, but we believe that as regards the authority of the IAEA in Iran, all this should be transparent," Interfax quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Gholamali Khoshrou as saying.
Khoshrou spoke after meeting in Moscow with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov.
Last month, a spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said Iran was "studying positively" the IAEA request that it sign the protocol.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for peaceful, electrical power purposes, has said it would agree to unfettered inspections if it is granted access to advanced nuclear technology as provided for under the NPT. Tehran says US influence is blocking that technology.
Russia has urged Iran to sign the protocol to dispel the concerns of the United States and others. However, Russia has said it is not making fulfillment of its long-standing $800 million deal to build a nuclear power reactor in Iran conditional on Iran's signing the protocol.
In televised comments following his meeting with Khoshrou, Fedotov said Russia "believes that joining the additional protocol would serve the interests of Iran."
Russia has rejected U.S. calls to abandon the reactor deal, saying U.S. concerns that it could help Iran develop nuclear weapons are unfounded.