(IranMania) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he was "more optimistic than pessimistic" about the deadlock with Iran over its nuclear programme following Tuesday's meeting in Tehran, AFP reported.
The talks were "very constructive, the atmosphere was very positive. They understood the content of the proposal," Solana said after a meeting with French President Jacques Chirac, reports Trend.
He said he hoped for a rapid response from Iran, who "need to get out of the situation in which they find themselves".
"We didn't fix a precise date but I hope that we will have responses and contacts in the coming weeks and days," he added.
Solana met with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Tuesday and handed him a new offer of Western trade and political incentives in exchange for a suspension of Iranian uranium enrichment activities.
Iran said on Thursday it was open to talks with the West but stressed that nuclear technology was not up for discussion, amid rising hopes for a breakthrough in the standoff over the Islamic republic's nuclear aims.
UN inspectors have found new traces of highly enriched uranium in equipment in Iran, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report Thursday obtained by AFP.
Chirac "is hopeful that Iran will return quickly to the negotiating table," his spokesman said.