07 February 2005	Monday	27 Zilhaj 1425

TEHRAN, Feb 6: Iran cautioned the European Union on Sunday that it needed to be "serious" in negotiations on the Islamic republic's nuclear programme, and repeated warnings that any failures would jeopardise the key talks.

"We hope the Europeans remember the promises they made in the previous negotiations. We expect the Europeans to be serious," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.

"Naturally, if we see they cannot keep their promises or are not serious, we'll make other decisions. It's too early though to reach that point, and I personally hope we won't reach that point."

In November Iran agreed with Britain, France and Germany to suspend all uranium enrichment-related activities in return for talks on trade, security and technological bonuses for the Islamic Republic.

The Iran-EU talks had begun in Brussels in December, moved to Geneva in January and are to resume Tuesday in Geneva, diplomats said. But discussions are stuck on a demand by EU negotiators for Iran to totally dismantle its nuclear fuel programme, including enrichment, in order to guarantee it does not seek atomic weapons, according to confidential reports. But Asefi said "we haven't reached a dead-end, and we are continuing the negotiations".-AFP