(Reuters) - Tehran is confident of reaching a negotiated settlement over its nuclear program, a senior Iranian diplomat said in Tokyo on Thursday, as the United Nations nuclear watchdog seemed set to report that Iran had defied a deadline to halt atomic fuel work, reports Trend.
The U.N. Security Council has told Iran to suspend atomic fuel work by August 31 or face possible sanctions. The West suspects Iran is seeking the ability to make nuclear weapons, but Tehran says its only aim is to generate electricity.
"We are confident about the peaceful nature of our program," Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters after visiting Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso.
"If there is also goodwill and sincerity on the other side, we are sure we can reach a good solution and good conclusion through negotiations. We hope we can start negotiations as soon as possible," Araghchi said.
The United States has threatened swift action on sanctions after August 31 if Iran does not heed the U.N. demand. But Russia and China, both major trading partners of Iran, have been unwilling to impose sanctions and could frustrate such a move in the Security Council.
On the eve of the U.N. deadline, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Iran was not expected to comply with U.N. demands so U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and top officials from Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany would meet early next week.
Araghchi did not say whether Iran would comply with the U.N. demands.
"We have never shut the door for negotiations. We are keeping all the gates open for a peaceful solution to the issue," Araghchi told Aso, according to a Japanese Foreign Ministry official.
On his part, Aso urged Iran to take action to defuse international concerns over its nuclear ambitions.
"The heart of the problem is that Iran is not trusted by the international community," the Japanese official quoted Aso as telling Araghchi.
Iran says it is pursuing a peaceful program permitted by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to generate energy and has denounced pressure for an unconditional suspension as illegal.
Concerns about Iran's intentions have been fanned by its record of hiding sensitive nuclear work from the U.N. watchdog for 18 years, failure to cooperate fully with agency probes and calls for the destruction of Israel, Western officials say.
Analysts believe Iran remains 3-10 years away from producing highly enriched uranium needed for a bomb, assuming it wants to.