EU to issue Iran with last chance on nuclear plans

Senior diplomats from France, Britain and Germany will meet top Iranian officials in Vienna tomorrow to offer Tehran a final chance to halt uranium enrichment plans or face possible UN sanctions.

"What will be sought on Thursday will be discussions about Iran's compliance - not with any conditions laid down by the three of us but by the (International Atomic Energy Agency) board of governors," said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

"A proposal will be put to them," he told a news conference with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer yesterday.

Last month, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, passed a resolution demanding Iran freeze its uranium enrichment activities - procedures that could produce fuel for nuclear weapons. Tehran rejected the demand as illegal.

The US has accused Iran of having a secret nuclear weapons programme and has threatened to press for UN sanctions. Tehran says its nuclear efforts are only for power generation.

If Iran rejects the EU offer, diplomats in Vienna say most European states would back US demands that Tehran be reported to the UN Security Council when the IAEA meets in November.

"We hope very much this matter can be resolved finally within the board of governors and not referred to the UN, but only time will tell," Mr Straw said.

Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, said Iran was determined to press ahead with its atomic plans and would not give up its right to enrich uranium.

"We will review the Europeans' proposal only if it respects Iran's right (to master the nuclear fuel cycle)," Mr Aghazadeh told state television.

Several diplomats in Vienna said top Iranian nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani, secretary-general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, would attend tomorrow's meeting with the EU's so-called "Big Three".

Other diplomats close to the EU-Iran talks said Mr Rohani would not be at the meeting, where the terms of the EU offer would be laid out in a four-page document, but Tehran would still send senior representatives.

Mr Rohani was to arrive in Italy yesterday evening. It was unclear what his itinerary would be while he is in Europe.

Diplomats said the IAEA, which has its headquarters in Vienna, would not be directly involved in the talks.

The process of enriching uranium increases the concentration of an especially radioactive isotope, resulting in a product usable in nuclear power plants or weapons.