Fight over 'venue' continues for Iran N-talks

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Iran and six world powers have agreed to meet on April 13 for new talks about Tehran's nuclear programme, but the failure of previous meetings and disputes over what should be discussed are keeping them from choosing a venue, diplomats said today.

No formal announcement about a date and venue for the talks has been made, and Michael Mann, a spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, insisted in Brussels that even the date is not yet fixed.

But three diplomats from Western nations accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency told The Associated Press the starting date is set and they expect the dispute over the venue to be resolved in time.

The bickering between Iran and the world powers over the location after days of talks appeared to reflect the deep differences that have doomed previous meetings during which Iran has refused to even discuss international demands that it curb nuclear activities that could be used as part of a weapons programme.

The main stumbling block remains uranium enrichment.

Iran says the expansion of its enrichment programme is meant only to provide nuclear fuel, denies any interest in developing the atomic bomb, and says the right of countries to enrich nuclear power is enshrined in the Nonproliferation Treaty.

But the US and others say Iran's nuclear record is causing concern. Tehran started enriching in secret, has refused offers of nuclear fuel shipments from abroad, and last year began enriching to higher levels that bring it closer to point where it could turn its program into producing fissile warhead material at an underground bunker that could be impervious to attack from the air.

The IAEA also has warned of growing suspicions, based on intelligence from the United States, Israel and elsewhere, that the Islamic Republic has hidden research and development on how to make and deliver a nuclear warhead allegations that Tehran strenuously denies.

The US and its Western allies have agreed on a series of punishing sanctions in recent weeks designed to add weight to UN penalties on Iran because of its enrichment programme, while attempting to persuade Israel that there is currently no need to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.