Iran says talks could end nuclear row

MUNICH, Germany, Feb 10 (Reuters) Iran insisted today a dispute with the West over its nuclear programme could be resolved by negotiation as its chief nuclear negotiator arrived in Germany for meetings with European officials.

But European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana played down chances of a breakthrough at a planned meeting tomorrow with the negotiator, Ali Larijani, saying at most it could launch new efforts to resolve the stand-off.

''We believe the Iranian nuclear dossier is resolvable by negotiation,'' Larijani told Reuters on the sidelines of an international security conference in Munich.

''We've had constructive talks with Mr Solana in the past and we believe that had we continued, we could have come to a positive conclusion,'' he said of earlier diplomacy shelved amid Western frustration at Iran's refusal to halt sensitive nuclear work.

The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Iran over its failure to prove to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that experimental efforts to enrich uranium are geared solely to generating electricity as it maintains. The West suspects Iran wants to produce atom bombs.

The German Foreign Ministry said the Munich talks with Larijani had been arranged with an eye to a February 21 UN Security Council deadline for Iran to stop enriching uranium for nuclear fuel or risk broader financial sanctions.

Asked whether he believed some understanding could be reached before then, Larijani told reporters through an interpreter: ''Still we have time. Talks are under way.'' UN officials have said they hope the planned meeting with Solana will allow some breathing space in the crisis but the EU official cautioned against over-optimism.

''I don't think tomorrow will be the day, only the beginning, if anything.'' Solana told Reuters at the conference. ''There is no specific detail (in the discussions). It is only to tell him that the door remains open.'' PUTIN CRITICISM Organisers of the Munich Security Conference, bringing together some of the world's top politicians, said yesterday Larijani had cancelled his visit due to illness but later reported he would attend.

Iran has promised an announcement of ''significant'' nuclear progress on Sunday when it crowns 10 days of celebrations marking the anniversary of its 1979 Islamic revolution.

Tehran faced criticism from Russia today as President Vladimir Putin told the Munich conference the Iranians had not answering outstanding questions on their nuclear programme, which Tehran hid from UN inspectors for nearly two decades.

Washington is building up forces in the Gulf but says it is committed to diplomacy and has no intention of invading Iran.

Keeping up a war of words yesterday, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told reporters in Buenos Aires that Iran was ''digging a hole deeper and deeper for itself''.

He said an offer to Iran to negotiate was still on the table if Tehran suspended enrichment, but added: ''Iran seems to be determined to further its isolation internationally.'' According to a report obtained by Reuters yesterday, the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, has cut back almost half its technical aid projects in Iran to uphold the UN sanctions.

The existing UN resolution bans transfers of sensitive nuclear materials and know-how to Iran as well as IAEA aid, traditionally given to bolster peaceful uses of nuclear energy, if it has any possible use in producing atomic fuel.

REUTERS AB BD1850