Iran said on Monday that statement by the U.S. military chief of staff was a propaganda which claimed Tehran was believed to have enough nuclear material to make a bomb.

These are baseless remarks, even from the technical viewpoint, and just for political propaganda," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi told reporters in Tehran.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates later said Iran was not close to having a nuclear bomb, giving the United States and allies more time to try to persuade Tehran to abandon its suspected atomic arms programme.

Iran says its nuclear programme is a peaceful drive to generate electricity so that the world's fourth-largest crude producer can export more of its oil and gas.

Asked about Mullen's statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said Gates had also said it was not correct. He noted Iran was a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"We are controlled by cameras in regards to the amount and level of uranium enrichment," he said referring to monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the enrichment plant at Natanz in central Iran.

"Anything produced at Natanz is under their supervision," Qashqavi said.

Reuters