"Iran is an important issue," Solana told reporters in Luxembourg after a meeting of EU foreign ministers, adding that he hoped that a "preparatory meeting" at experts level could be organised with Tehran.

A ministerial-level meeting of the six international negotiating partners involved in the Iran talks -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- should follow, he added.

If the ministerial meeting is confirmed it will be the first in which Washington has participated since US President Barack Obama took office.

The EU foreign ministers, in an agreed statement, urged Iran to take advantage of a change in US policy to seal a deal and end the stand-off over its nuclear ambitions.

"The EU calls upon Iran to seize this opportunity to engage seriously with the international community in a spirit of mutual respect, in order to find a negotiated solution to the nuclear issue," the ministers said in the statement.

However Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a television interview broadcast Sunday, said that his country was not ready to talk to the United States unconditionally.

"We should just have a clear-cut framework for talks," he said.

Western powers fear that Iran's nuclear drive could be a cover for efforts to build an atomic bomb, but Tehran insists it is aimed purely at generating electricity for a growing population.

The Europeans have been struggling since 2006 to persuade the Islamic republic to accept a package of political and economic incentives in exchange for an end to uranium enrichment.

Iran, which is labouring under three sets of UN sanctions, has refused to sit down at the negotiating table if it has to suspend uranium enrichment even before the talks begin.

While Washington is offering dialogue, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the new administration of President Barack Obama would be prepared to push for tough new sanctions against Iran if the dialogue fails.

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