ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb 20 - EU-Iran Talks Make No Progress.

EU talks with the Iranian FM fails to make progress in resolving the West's standoff with the Islamic republic over its nuclear program. The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said that Iran's "substantive position has not changed". Speaking after a 90-minute meeting with the Iranian FM Manouchehr Mottaki, Solana said of the Iranians, "They have to be much more constructive". Solana said he had told Mottaki that the EU was waiting to see whether progress would be made by Iran in its talks with Russia over uranium enrichment ahead of a key meeting of the IAEA in Vienna on March 6. In Moscow, Russian and Iranian negotiators ended a day of talks with an agreement to continue negotiations on a proposal by Moscow that uranium for reactors in Iran be enriched in Russia, and Russia's FM voiced cautious hope that the Iranian nuclear issue could remain in the hands of the UN nuclear watchdog. No details were available on when, where or at what level the talks would be continued. The Iranian delegation was expected to head home Tuesday, and no further talks were expected to be held before its departure. "We hope very much from the Iranian side some movement takes place before that date", said Solana, referring to the March 6 meeting in Vienna. He added that Mottaki and his delegation, which included nuclear negotiators, had repeated earlier arguments. Reports by the IAEA "show very clearly" a number of doubts "that have undermined a peaceful program, and therefore what is fundamental now is the confidence building measures", Solana said. Mottaki acknowledged in a separate press briefing that no progress had been made in his talks with Solana. Mottaki said that Iran had expected the EU to make new diplomatic overtures to resolve the dispute. "I said we are ready for any new ideas to reach to some compromise on this issue", Mottaki said. "They are supporting some kind of nuclear apartheid which is not acceptable to us". Iranian and European officials said that despite the continued deadlock, they were eager to find a diplomatic solution to the standoff. Mottaki said that moves by EU governments and the US to take the dispute to the UN Security Council were unjustified and unfair. "Nuclear weapons are not in Iran's defense doctrine", Mottaki said. Mottaki was also to hold talks with members of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee. He said earlier on Feb 20, after talks with the Belgian FM, Karel De Gucht, that the EU and the US had to put the option of sanctions to one side and concentrate on reaching a negotiated settlement. "The time for using language of threats is over, it's time for negotiation", Mottaki said. "We express our readiness for negotiations based on justice and a comprehensive compromise. We want to peacefully solve the problem". "We are here to hear any new plans, any new proposal, any new ideas", he said. The EU said it had "no wish to isolate Iran" and reiterated that it, too, was looking for a diplomatic solution to the dispute. "There remains a strong wish for a diplomatic solution", said Emma Udwin, external affairs spokeswoman for the European Commission. "We have no wish to isolate Iran; we hope Iran will not choose to isolate itself", she said. Both the EU and Washington fear that Tehran is using its nuclear energy program to develop nuclear warheads.