Iran will not discuss its long-range missile programme as part of international talks on its nuclear programme, President Hassan Rouhani told UN nuclear watchdog chief Yukiya Amano in Tehran yesterday.

But Mr Rouhani again pledged to co-operate with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) investigation into whether its civilian nuclear programme had a military use, saying: “There is no room for using a weapon of mass destruction in Iran’s defence doctrine.”

The US has repeatedly asserted that Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons — though its official intelligence reports have repeatedly said Tehran’s nuclear programme has purely civilian aims — and slapped the country with agressive sanctions as a result.

The US and its allies insist that any deal coming out of the ongoing international talks aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear programme must include an IAEA assurance that Iran has fully co-operated with its probe.