EU, Iran hold more talks

Iran's president vowed yesterday not to give up the right to nuclear technology, just as EU and Iranian diplomats met to see if Tehran might suspend uranium enrichment and avoid the threat of sanctions.

The US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China have offered Tehran economic and political incentives if it suspends uranium enrichment, which the West believes is part of a nuclear weapons programme.

Tehran says its nuclear enrichment activities are aimed at generating electricity and has refused to halt them.

"Today, Western countries want us to suspend our nuclear technology, but we say to them that we will never give it up," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told a seminar in Tehran according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

But other Iranian news agency gave different accounts of what Mr Ahmadinejad said.

"In negotiations they tell us to suspend uranium enrichment for one day on the pretext of some technical problem and let us continue negotiations," the Irna state news agency reported.

"Our answer to them, is no one has the right to abandon the rights of the Iranian nation and the Iranian nation will not give up its right," he was quoted as saying.

Mr Ahmadinejad's comments came as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana began a meeting with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. Mr Larijani was to have met Dr Solana at the UN General Assembly in New York last week but never showed up.

The Washington Times reported this week that Iran was close to a deal that would include a temporary, 90-day suspension of uranium enrichment and clear the way for talks on incentives.

But Iran dismissed the report as propaganda.

"As no new talks have taken place, such news is baseless, cannot be correct and is creating negative propaganda against Iran," Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, said in Tehran.

French officials said Mr Larijani offered to consider a temporary enrichment suspension at a meeting with Dr Solana two weeks ago. Western diplomats said details of this possible suspension would be discussed at yesterday's meeting in Berlin.

If Tehran does not suspend enrichment, the US and the "EU3" - France, Germany and Britain - have agreed to ask the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran. China and Russia oppose sanctions and would prefer to reopen negotiations.

"We will be watching this very important meeting closely," said a Western diplomat from one of the six countries that made the incentives offer to Iran in June.

Separately, a European diplomat confirmed a report from German magazine Der Spiegel, which said the EU3 would be willing to begin preliminary talks with Iran even if it has not suspended enrichment first.

The condition for starting such talks would be a positive result from Dr Solana's meetings with Mr Larijani - in other words, an indication that it would suspend enrichment, he said.