22 October 2004	Friday	07 Ramazan 1425

VIENNA, Oct 21: Iran said on Thursday it would consider a European offer to end uranium enrichment in return for the latest nuclear technology.

The statement came after talks with Europe's three major powers, an Iranian official said here on Thursday after London, Paris and Berlin asked Tehran to reassure the world that it was not secretly developing atomic weapons.

"We are at an initial stage, matters have to be considered on both sides," said Sirus Naseri, who identified himself as a consultant to the Iranian delegation.

Speaking to reporters after the two sides met for three hours in Vienna, Mr Naseri said: "What has been agreed is that we will continue the dialogue."

"I think we'll get together in a matter of a few days," Mr Naseri said, adding that the next meeting might also be in Vienna.

According to a confidential text, Britain, France and Germany are offering valuable nuclear technology if Iran agrees to suspend all activities related to enriching uranium and threatening possible UN sanctions if it does not.

This carrot-and-stick approach would include a light-water reactor if Iran indefinitely suspends all uranium enrichment activities.

Mr Naseri said Iran wanted "to have a clear view about what the end game is".

He said the Europeans were reacting to a proposal Iran had made last month for a global solution to Tehran's problems with Western nations, including security agreements for the Middle East. "Both sides have been talking about trying to come to a negotiated agreement which will be on the basis of a win-win situation for both sides and be acceptable to both sides," Mr Naseri said.

He refused to say whether Iran would honour an IAEA deadline for Tehran to immediately halt all uranium enrichment activities.

"There is no time line, no deadline whatsoever in any form or matter as far as Iran is concerned," Mr Naseri said.

Political directors from the foreign ministries of Europe's big three met On Thursday with Amir Hossein Zamani-Nia, the Iranian foreign ministry's international political affairs director.

Mr Zamani-Nia refused to talk to reporters after the meeting, which took place at the mission of the French ambassador to the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Pirooz Hosseini, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, had said earlier that Iran expected to hear a proposal from the European trio but that no decision would be reached on Thursday.

"We have to receive the text and then take it back to our capital and see if it is approved, and if it is not approved, then that is another story," he said.

The meeting is designed to give Iran a last chance to come clean before the IAEA decides on Nov 25 whether Tehran is cooperating with it or not.

On Wednesday, Tehran refused to give up on producing enriched uranium, which is the process used to make fuel for civilian reactors but also the explosive core of nuclear weapons.

The United States wants the IAEA, which since February last year has been investigating Iran on US claims that the country has a covert nuclear weapons program, to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions.

But the European trio have so far opposed this, favouring instead a policy of "constructive engagement" to get Tehran to cooperate. -AFP