Iran vows not to back down, EU 'disappointed' after new talks

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Iran vowed not to cave in to international pressure over its nuclear plans, as the European Union lamented a lack of progress in talks on a Western offer to defuse the standoff.

Tehran's top nuclear envoy negotiator, Ari Larijani, speaking after talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and other European officials, warned of a "long road" ahead to solve the crisis.

"The meeting was disappointing," Cristina Gallach told AFP, saying the latest round of discussions with the Tehran envoy "was not satisfactory."

The comments came after hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking in Tehran, promised Iran would continue sensitive nuclear fuel cycle work and would not back down.

"The Iranian nation is determined to obtain all of its rights, including full nuclear rights and the complete exploitation of the nuclear fuel cycle," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

Iran insists that it only wants to develop nuclear energy but its lack of cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog and enrichment activities have raised suspicions that it is covertly trying to build an atomic bomb.

In an effort to get it to freeze uranium enrichment -- a process needed to fuel a nuclear reactor but which could also be used to make a bomb -- the West on June 6 offered Iran a package of economic and political incentives.

The Brussels meeting was aimed at taking stock of developments since then, and to lay the groundwork for talks in France on Wednesday between foreign ministers from the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany.

Solana said he would report to the ministers from the six powers which drew up the offer and "we will make an analysis ... to see how we proceed."

Larijani sought to play down the sense of doom, saying the Western offer was broadly acceptable. "There are different ambiguities but the offer has a central core that is suitable," he said.

But he admitted: "We have a long road to travel... We have to be precise and patient."

The United States meanwhile underlined that Iran must stop uranium enrichment and reprocessing, the crucial sticking point at the heart of the talks.

"Suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing-related activities. It's very simple," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, adding that in return all action against Tehran at the UN Security Council would be suspended.

And an Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "We agreed on a number of principles but there is disagreement over suspension (of uranium enrichment)."

He noted that Solana "was unable to respond to all questions" posed by the Iranian delegation and that he would "need to obtain a mandate" from the six powers to do so.

The six had wanted Iran to respond positively to their offer before a meeting of leaders of the Group of Eight major industrialized countries starting in Saint Petersburg this weekend.

But Ahmadinejad has said Tehran will not respond before August.

The West has made it clear that rejecting the offer would relaunch debate at the UN Security Council on how to further escalate pressure on Tehran.

But it is unclear exactly where this would lead, in particular since Russia and China, which have veto rights, have made it clear they oppose sanctions.

An EU source meanwhile said Iran welcomed the offer but indicated that little concrete progress was made -- including on clarifying "ambiguities" which Tehran said it wants cleared up regarding the Western offer.

"They said that the offer was positive but we didn't manage to find out what ambiguities they found. They skirted the real issues," said the official, requesting anonymity.