WASHINGTON, August 07. /ITAR-TASS/. Senior U.S. and Iranian officials will meet in Geneva on Thursday to discuss Tehran's nuclear program, the U.S. State Department said.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns will lead the U.S. delegation, which also includes Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, and other officials.

"These bilateral consultations will take place in the context of the P5+1 nuclear negotiations led by EU High Representative Cathy Ashton," the State Department said.

In mid-July, Iran and P5+1 group - US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China - failed to reach a comprehensive agreement on Iran's nuclear program.

The Islamic Republic has long claimed its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but Western powers fear it could be used to produce an atomic weapon.