( RIA Novosti ) - Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, will meet on Friday in London to continue discussions of Iran's controversial nuclear program.
The talks are taking place prior to a meeting in Paris on December 1 between the six countries mediating in the Iranian nuclear dispute to discuss new tougher sanctions against the Islamic state, which has ruled out any possibility of halting uranium enrichment, a principal demand of the UN Security Council.
"We are optimistic [about the Friday meeting], but a lot depends on the other side," Jalili, who heads the Supreme National Security Council, said Thursday, adding that he would bring new initiatives to the negotiating table.
However, Solana said Thursday that he does not have "any new ideas to offer," but is willing to listen to Iran's proposals.
At a Paris meeting on Saturday, the UN Security Council members - the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, and Germany - will also review the report delivered earlier this month by the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, which stresses the positive aspects of Iran's "nuclear dossier," saying the country has provided extra documentation, but notes that the Islamic Republic was continuing to enrich uranium.
Tehran insists it needs nuclear technology to produce electricity and demanded that sanctions already in place be lifted following the recent IAEA report on Iran's nuclear program.