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LONDON - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili had good discussions Friday and agreed to hold further talks next month, the Iranian envoy said.
"For five hours now I have been talking with Mr. Solana and we have had good negotiations," he told reporters. "We agreed to continue with our negotiations and we also agreed to arrange for a meeting next month."
The comments came after the two men held last-ditch talks on Tehran's nuclear plans, hours before a deadline for Solana to report back to key world powers on progress made over the last 18 months.
Western nations suspect Iran is using its nuclear programme to covertly develop a nuclear bomb. Despite Iranian denials, the United States and its allies are pressing for stronger UN sanctions against Tehran.
Solana, who did not immediately make any comment, is expected to brief Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany whose representatives are scheduled to meet in Paris on Saturday.
Critics say Tehran has played off the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany -- the six powers involved in the dossier -- counting on China and Russia to block further sanctions demanded by the United States.
Tehran is under two sets of UN sanctions, as well as unilateral US sanctions, for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, which can fuel a nuclear reactor or, at highly refined levels, be used to build an atomic weapon.
The United States in particular is threatening new UN sanctions, although if these cannot be agreed Washington is believed to be ready to impose unilateral sanctions, as could Britain and France.
- AFP /ls
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