A top Iranian security official said on Saturday that maintaining and expanding the country's nuclear and defense capabilities, which he described as “peaceful”, are "options that are never removed from the table", the Xinhua news agency reported.
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), made the remarks in a tweet a day after millions of Iranians celebrated the 43rd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The irremovable options included "glorious presence of Iranians in ceremonies in support of the Islamic establishment, maintaining and strengthening Iran's peaceful nuclear capacities and defense capabilities, (as well as) regional security-making policies of Islamic Republic," he wrote.
The comments come as talks to revive the 2015 deal with Iran on its nuclear program continue in Vienna.
The negotiations -- attended by Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and indirectly the United States -- were halted at the end of last month for diplomats to return to their capitals to get further instructions.
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with world powers in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018.
However, it has held several rounds of indirect talks with the US on reviving the deal. The talks are being mediated by the remaining five countries that are party to the deal.
Negotiators from the three European countries involved in the negotiations recently said the talks are reaching their final stage and now require political input.
Shamkhani said last week that Washington and Tehran had so far failed to produce "balance" in their commitments during the Vienna talks.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that talks with Iran have reached an urgent point and warned that it will be impossible to return to the Iran nuclear deal if an agreement is not reached in coming weeks.