The U.N. nuclear agency is dismissing reports of a major explosion at Iran's fortified underground nuclear facility.

International Atomic Energy Agency spokeswoman Gill Tudor told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Iran's denial of "an incident" at the Fordo uranium enrichment plant is "consistent with our observations."

Some news organizations have cited Israeli intelligence reports of a blast at Fordo.

A diplomat familiar with the issue told AP that the IAEA's information came directly from IAEA inspectors at Fordo. He demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to comment.

The London-based Times newspaper on Monday quoted an Israeli intelligence official saying that there had been an explosion at the compound, however he did not say whether the blast was accidental or sabotage.

Iran denied reports of the explosion, describing them as "Western propaganda" designed to influence upcoming nuclear negotiations.

Iran is enriching uranium at Fordo to a level that is just a technical step away from nuclear warhead material.

Tehran says it is enriching only for reactor fuel and for scientific purposes and denies accusations that it wants nuclear arms.