Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Hossein Noqrehkar Shirazi said on Wednesday that the country is ready to invite U.S. companies for oil projects in the Islamic Republic.

"Iran is ready to talk with American oil companies on oil projects," the official IRNA news agency quoted Shirazi as saying.

"The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has never deprived any U.S. company. However, they were deprived by themselves," said Shirazi.

Claiming that Tehran has no problem with the West regarding its economic activities, Shirazi said that "if Iran's conditions and the country's regulations on oil agreements are accepted by various Western and Asian companies, Tehran is ready for negotiations."

The United States severed its political and economic ties with Iran in 1980 and Washington, since then, has been trying to beef up its sanctions against Tehran for being involved in anti-U.S. activities and for allegedly developing nuclear weapons secretly.

Iran has denied the charges and insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2009)