Agence France-Presse,
BERLIN: Senior officials from the UN Security Council permanent member nations plus Germany held talks here on Thursday ahead of negotiations with Iran about its contested nuclear programme.
The meeting was the second time in a week that envoys from Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany have discussed the Iranian nuclear issue ahead of a new UN deadline of May 23 for Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment programme.
One diplomat said the six nations were set to begin work on a third UN Security Council resolution against Iran that would expand sanctions already imposed.
The new round of UN sanctions could come after a meeting in Vienna of the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to review Iranian compliance.
The IAEA is due to issue a new report on the state of Iran's nuclear work on May 23.
The six powers, represented at political director level, were also seeking in Berlin to work out a common position before EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iranian official Ali Larijani meet again.
The two are due to meet in mid-May, but Solana's spokeswoman told AFP on Thursday that no date had yet been set for the meeting.
Several diplomats in Vienna said the previous Solana-Larijani meeting, in Ankara April 25-26, ended in deadlock despite both men saying afterwards that progress had been made.
Larijani had refused even to consider a Solana proposal for a moratorium on further UN sanctions against Iran in return for a temporary halt in uranium enrichment, the diplomats said.
“The Europeans were very surprised the Iranians didn't accept their offer,” a diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The enrichment process, which can produce fuel for civilian nuclear reactors or material for atom bombs, is at the heart of the confrontation.
The UN Security Council has demanded Iran suspend the activity, with the United Sates in particular believing that the real aim of Iran's programme is to develop nuclear weapons.
Tehran has refused to bow to the demand, despite two sets of limited UN sanctions being applied against it. It insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy use only, as permitted under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The Group of Eight industrialised nations are due to hold a summit in Germany on June 6-8 which is expected to include discussions of the Iranian nuclear standoff.
