The European Union said Wednesday it stood ready to start comprehensive talks with Iran on its nuclear programme, but also restated its general support for new measures should Tehran continue to defy the United Nations Security Council, dpa reported.
"We have to react," French Ambassador Francois-Xavier Deniau told the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. France holds the rotating EU presidency.
Like other IAEA members, EU countries are concerned about lingering questions over past Iranian research that could have been related to the development of nuclear weapons.
The Security Council has not only called on Iran to cooperate with the UN nuclear agency, but also pressed Tehran to stop uranium enrichment.
"It is not up to Iran to contest the authority of the Security Council or of the Agency," Deniau said.
The ambassador not only said the EU supported the Security Council's work in adopting additional measures, but also reiterated that the offer for comprehensive talks to solve the nuclear issue was still on the table.
Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China have proposed a package that spells out economic benefits for Iran, including cooperation on nuclear energy, if the country halts its nuclear activities.
So far, Tehran has not agreed to stop expanding its nuclear facility in Natanz - the six countries' precondition for talks.
The process to come up with a new resolution in the Security Council hit an obstacle Wednesday, as Russia announced there was no need for an emergency session on Iran.
According to political analysts, Moscow's pullout from the Iran talks appeared partly in anger over Western condemnation of its war with Georgia last month.