Iran said on Monday it will not accept a nuclear agreement that deprives it of what it calls "peaceful activities", a reference to uranium enrichment, as it pressed the United States for guarantees it will drop sanctions.

The preliminary U.S. proposal came as a confidential U.N. report described an Iranian initiative that had multiplied Tehran’s stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium.

Senior Iranian officials on Thursday dismissed speculation about an imminent nuclear deal with the United States, emphasizing that any agreement must fully lift sanctions and allow the country’s nucle