Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (file photo)

Iran's president says other countries besides Britain, France and Germany have offered to enter talks on Iran's nuclear activities, and Tehran is considering their offers.

Without giving further details, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iranian media that the door is open for other states to enter the talks. But he cautioned that Iran will never accept any negotiations that challenge its right to peaceful nuclear energy.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed speculation that his country might enter the talks. He said Russia intends to move along a parallel path to achieve a result in everyone's interest.

Mr. Lavrov spoke after a meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohammed ElBaradei.  On Wednesday, Mr. ElBaradei expressed optimism that talks between European negotiators and Iran would resume soon.

Iran denies charges that it is secretly trying to build nuclear weapons.