The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, has invited Iran to restart talks on its nuclear programme next month in Vienna, officials said Thursday.
"High Representative Ashton today officially proposed to Iran that these talks should take place over three days in mid-November," a spokesman told the German Press Agency dpa.
Ashton is due to conduct negotiations on behalf of the 5+1, a group that comprises the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany.
Earlier this week, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman had accused Ashton of being less committed to the nuclear talks than her predecessor Javier Solana, whose protracted efforts nonetheless failed to produce any results.
Officials said Ashton was now hoping that Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeid Jalili, would "respond positively" to her offer.