Talks fail to resolve Iran nuclear impasse

Geneva: Attempts to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear programme have made "insufficient" progress, the EU's diplomatic chief Javier Solana said on Saturday following high-level talks in Geneva.

"There is always progress in these talks, but insufficient," and the international community was still waiting for Iran's response to a proposed package of incentives for Tehran to give up its nuclear programme, he said.

"It was a constructive meeting, but still we didn't get the answer to our questions," said Solana. "We have not got a clear answer ... we didn't get an answer Yes or No and we hope that it will be given soon."

"We refrain from Security Council resolutions and [call] for Iran to refrain from nuclear activity including the installations of new centrifuges" for processing uranium, Solana said after the talks. "We are looking forward to an answer from Iran in this question ... in a couple of weeks."

But a Western diplomat at the talks said no further high-level meetings had been scheduled. "This is the last meeting at this level," the diplomat said.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili described the talks as "constructive and progressing," in comments to reporters afterwards.

He added that "on the manner of continuing the negotiations we have understood better our mutual positions."

Jalili said that in any next round of talks Iran was not ready to discuss a freeze in enrichment proposed by the "sextet" in return for the UN Security Council halting further sanctions measures.

"We will only discuss common points of the package," Jalili said. "There are points in common and points that are not in common," Jalili said. "We have agreed to discuss this."

Iranian, European and US officials including US State Department official William Burns, held talks in Geneva's historic Town Hall as part of a bid to resolve the long-running dispute.