BRUSSELS, June 28: A meeting between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran’s top nuclear negotiator has been postponed until after Group of Eight foreign ministers meet on Thursday, an EU diplomat said on Wednesday.

Mr Solana would meet Ali Larijani somewhere in Europe next week to clarify a US-backed package of incentives for Tehran to stop sensitive nuclear research that the West feared was aimed at producing a bomb, the diplomat said.

No reason was given for the delay. Both Mr Solana and Mr Larijani had said publicly they would meet this week and diplomats said Western governments were concerned Tehran was trying to string out its response to divide major powers.

The US, EU, Russia and China have warned Iran that the UN Security Council would act against it if it did not suspend uranium enrichment, but they have set no firm deadline.

The Western powers have called for a clear Iranian reply in “weeks, not months” and indicated informally it should come before a G8 summit in Russia on July 15-16.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week Iran would reply before Aug 22. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Iran had nothing to gain from talks with the US.

Diplomats said the G8 countries were debating the wording of a statement on Iran for Thursday’s foreign ministers’ session in Moscow, which might give some indication of a desired timetable.—Reuters