December 03, 2007	Monday	Ziqa'ad 22, 1428

TEHRAN: Iran on Sunday remained defiant in the standoff over its nuclear programme after the latest talks with the European Union ended in failure and world powers agreed to step up moves for further sanctions.

Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said more UN Security Council sanctions would not deter Iran from pressing ahead with its nuclear drive, which the United States alleges is aimed at making an atomic weapon.

His comments followed the latest round of talks between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran’s new chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili ended in failure and mutual recrimination.

Solana said on Friday he was “disappointed” after the last-ditch talks in London failed to produce a breakthrough.

According to a French diplomatic source in Paris, Friday’s meeting between the two had been a “disaster,” with Jalili signalling that Tehran wanted to start again from scratch on the issue.

“I have to admit that after five hours of meetings I expected more, and therefore I am disappointed,” Solana said after the London talks.

Tehran had promised to bring “new ideas” to the table for the talks, but Solana’s spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said: “There was not enough new in order not to be disappointed.”

After returning to Tehran, Jalili defiantly shrugged off any idea that Iran was to blame for the failure of the talks, saying it was up to the other side to accept Iranian demands.

“If some people have become disappointed because they cannot deprive Iran of its natural rights then this is another matter,” he said on Saturday.

—AFP