Iran tells Italy it ready for nuclear talks

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 21 (Reuters) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Italian leader Romano Prodi he was ready for nuclear talks with major powers but that flexibility was needed on all sides.

''Ahmadinejad indicated that Iran is willing to negotiate but there needs to be flexibility on both sides,'' Prodi said in a written statement issued after his meeting with the Iranian leader on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting.

Prodi said both leaders had clearly laid out their positions, with Iran emphasizing the importance of its role in the West Asia region, and Prodi pressing for a complete halt to any research in the military field.

''We left each other without any concrete step forward but with, I think, clear ideas on the need for a step forward,'' Prodi told reporters after the meeting.

He said the meeting was ''positive,'' but ''there wasn't a yes or a no said to me on the positions that I expressed.'' Prodi, the first European Union head of government to meet Ahmadinejad, said he pressed the Iranian leader on the need to work for stability in the region.

''I told him this is the moment to put into action the intentions that have been expressed on various occasions (by Iran),'' Prodi said.

REUTERS DKS BST0522