"A European delegation will be in Iran early January after the holidays for (nuclear) talks," Hamid Reza Asefi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

Britain, France and Germany have agreed to supply Iran with a small research reactor as part of an agreement negotiated in Paris last month, in which the Islamic republic agreed to suspend all uranium enrichment activities.

Iran has also been invited to take part in International Atomic Energy Agency fuel cycle meetings set for next month, Asefi added.

Tehran asked to join the IAEA work group of some 20 countries, stressing it has already mastered the nuclear fuel cycle and uranium enrichment.

In return for "objective guarantees" in Paris that Iran would not develop nuclear weapons, the three principal EU powers offered Tehran a range of trade, technology and security rewards.

The agreement rescued Iran from having its nuclear activities referred to the UN Security Council, as demanded by the United States, which accuses Tehran of covertly trying to develop nuclear weapons.

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