Iran’s chief negotiator Saeed Jalili has held talks with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Tehran’s controversial nuclear program.

Described as “useful and constructive,” the talks in Istanbul on September 18 were a follow-up to negotiations in Moscow in June which failed to secure a breakthrough in the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear agenda.

Last week, the 35-nation board of the UN nuclear watchdog censured Iran for ignoring international demands to curb uranium enrichment and failing to address mounting fears about its suspected research into atomic bombs.

Iran has repeatedly denied Western accusations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.

Ashton plans to meet foreign ministers of six world powers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week in New York to figure out how to break the impasse in negotiations.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP

By RFE/RL