EU, Iran plan more nuclear talks, no deal reached

BERLIN, Sep 28 (Reuters) European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said today he had failed to reach a deal with the chief Iranian negotiator on Tehran's nuclear ambitions, but they had paved the way for further talks.

''We have been progressing,'' Solana told reporters after discussions with Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani.

''We still have some issues that have not been closed,'' he added without elaborating. Mr Solana said he hoped to renew contact with the Iranians by the middle of next week.

Solana's comments appeared to hint that prospects of a resolution were fading, a day after the US State Department had said time was running out for a deal.

In June the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China offered Tehran a package of economic and political incentives if it suspended uranium enrichment, which the West believes is part of a nuclear weapons programme.

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

Larijani said seven hours of talks over the last two days in Berlin had brought ''some possible conclusions'' and added that talks would continue.

''We hope to be able to embark on the main negotiations as soon as possible,'' he said, referring to the incentives package.

Neither Mr Solana nor Mr Larijani took questions and it was not clear if there had been any change in Iran's position on the crucial issue of suspension.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was open to negotiations and would accept ''fair conditions''. But he criticised the West's demand that Iran freeze its enrichment programme, which it hid from UN inspectors for 18 years.

''Why are they insisting that we suspend our atomic work? Because they control the advertising network of the world and they want to tell the nations that they were right, and Iran wanted to produce nuclear weapons, and after that they would never let us continue our programmes,'' Mr Ahmadinejad said.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was also meeting with Mr Larijani. He said earlier he hoped Security Council action could be avoided.

''I expect we will see some movement in this conflict that will enable us to avoid escalating it by getting the Security Council involved,'' Steinmeier told reporters at parliament.

'PROPAGANDA' If Iran does not suspend enrichment, the United States and the ''EU3'' have agreed to ask the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on the Islamic Republic. China and Russia oppose sanctions and would prefer to reopen negotiations with Iran.

Washington, which has been pushing the EU to back UN sanctions against Iran, followed the Berlin meeting closely.

Mr Solana's spokeswoman Cristine Gallach said he spoke twice with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- once before yesterday's meeting and again after it broke off last night.

The Washington Times reported earlier this week that Iran was close to a deal that would include a temporary enrichment suspension and clear the way for negotiations on the package.

Iran has dismissed this report as propaganda and no mention of it was made at the briefing after yesterday's meeting.

But French officials have said Larijani offered to consider a temporary suspension at a meeting with Solana two weeks ago.

A majority of Americans want the United States to increase diplomatic efforts in the dispute with Iran and 70 per cent oppose the use of US troops against the Islamic Republic, a Reuters/Zogby poll published on Thursday showed.

Washington has not ruled out military action.

The UN Security Council originally set an Aug. 31 deadline for Iran to halt enrichment which Tehran ignored. The six powers then agreed to give Solana until early October to reach a deal.

REUTERS BDP RK2035