The previous day, Iranian officials and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany managed in a last-ditch meeting in Geneva to avert a collapse of talks.

"We liked the idea" proposed by the EU, Rowhani told reporters shortly before leaving Switzerland for Iran.

The European ministers, representing the 25-nation EU, agreed with Iranian negotiators that they would make new proposals to Tehran in late July or August on cooperation in civilian nuclear power and trade ties.

Iran in turn pledged to maintain a suspension of its uranium enrichment programme agreed in Paris last November, amid fears that Tehran's plans would allow it to develop a nuclear bomb.

"Up to now, each time we have asked the Europeans to make clear proposals they have ducked the issue and taken time," he said.

"This is the first time they have committed to making overall proposals."

The EU ministers had sought a September deadline, but in the end accepted a request by Iranian negotiators in Geneva to bring it forward.

However, Rowhani said, the timetable suggested by the EU must still be approved by authorities in Tehran.

Enriched uranium can be used both for civil or military purposes, depending on the level of enrichment. Tehran insists that its nuclear programme is only meant to provide an alternative source of energy.

On Thursday, Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi reiterated that position.

"It's not a question of weapons of mass destruction, but of a peaceful technology that we have a legitimate right to use to produce energy," he told journalists while traveling in Lebanon.

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