Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The six world powers engaged in nuclear negotiations with Iran urgently seek a new round of talks with Tehran, an EU spokesperson was quoted by DPA as saying Wednesday.

Top diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States - the so-called E3+3 - met in Brussels to discuss the future of their diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

At the previous round in Moscow in June, both sides failed to overcome their differences on who should take which steps first in order to end the nuclear stand-off.

It was not clear after the meeting what options, if any, were agreed. But the six powers said "necessary contact" with the Iranians would be made "in the coming days".

"The E3+3 are committed to having another round of talks with Iran as soon as possible," said a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who led the six-power group in the past rounds of talks.

A senior Western official said on Tuesday in Vienna that new negotiations could take place before the end of the year, and that the group of six was discussing how to improve its incentives offer to Tehran.

So far, they have proposed to provide spare airplane parts as well as fuel and technical assistance for a research reactor in Tehran, while demanding that uranium enrichment to a level of 20 percent be stopped.

Iran wants the imposed sanctions to be lifted before making any such concessions.

"We want to try to give Iran incentives to meet its obligations, but Iran will obviously have to take steps as well," the official said.

The call for fresh talks came after the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday that Iran had boosted its capacity to enrich uranium to 20 percent.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has said that efforts to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program should continue.

"It is important to continue to seek a diplomatic solution," Amano told reporters in Paris after talks with French President Francois Hollande, AFP reported.

"The current situation is worrying but the declared material and installation facilities are under the IAEA safeguard, and we can verify that they stay in a peaceful purpose," Amano said.

"We are going to have a high-level dialogue with Iran on the 13th of December in Tehran. The way to solve this issue is by diplomatic means, and we will continue our efforts," he said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has stressed that there is no alternative to negotiations in resolving the Western dispute over Tehran's nuclear energy program.

According to Iran's Press TV channel, Ryabkov made the remark in Brussels after a Wednesday meeting of senior diplomats from Britain, China, France, Russia, and the US plus Germany.

He also warned that the threat of military action against Iran could hinder the process of negotiations.

The stakes have risen since diplomacy resumed in April after a hiatus of more than a year with the U.N. watchdog report last week showing Iran is set to sharply expand uranium enrichment in its bunkered Fordow plant, Reuters reported.

Iran denies international accusations it is seeking nuclear weapons and has so far refused to meet demands to scale back its atomic activity, insisting on immediate relief from sanctions.

Western powers have rejected that in previous rounds, instead offering limited incentives focused on technology cooperation. They have also ramped up punitive measures intended to get Iran, one of the world's biggest oil producers and exporters, back to the table for meaningful talks.