The acting head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived in Tehran on Sunday for talks with high-level officials.

Iranian state-run news agency Isna reported that Cornel Ferute would hold talks with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, nuclear agency chief Ali-Akbar Salehi and national security adviser Ali Shamkhani.

The news comes a day after Iran announced that it would use more modern and advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium in a third phase of its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal with global powers.

The deal placed strict limits on Iran's uranium production in return for easing economic sanctions, but the United States pulled out of the agreement in 2018 under President Donald Trump.

European allies who opposed the US withdrawal have tried to help Iran circumvent US sanctions and keep the deal alive, but Iran says these efforts have had limited impact.

The nuclear deal restricted Iran's uranium enrichment to no more than 3.67 per cent purity and its reserves of below that level of purity to no more than 300 kilograms. Iran already broke through both of those limits in its first two withdrawal phases earlier this year.