France ready to talk to Iran to end nuke crisis

"The Iranian authorities say they are open to dialogue and ready to resume discussions," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told a meeting of French ambassadors in Paris.

"Without abandoning the demand to suspend sensitive activities, France is also ready to renew dialogue. But it must be a clear, concrete and responsible dialogue," he said.

Douste-Blazy said he wanted the talks to take place "quickly" but would not be pinned down on a timeframe, while a French diplomat said the offer was for dialogue, not the resumption of full-blown negotiations Tehran is seeking.

In Brussels, a diplomat said that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was trying to set up a meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, somewhere in Europe and hopefully "before the end of the month".

He said the meeting would also involve "diplomats" from the so-called EU-3 powers of Britain, France and Germany, which have been leading negotiations with Tehran also involving the United States, Russia and China.

The UN Security Council has given Iran until Thursday to suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities -- which Tehran says is part of a civilian nuclear programme -- or face the threat of sanctions.

An impasse is looming as Iran insists that it has no intention of abandoning such work -- though it says it is ready to hold "serious talks".

Western countries, led by the US, believe Iran wants to build nuclear weapons, but the Islamic republic insists it only wants to develop civilian nuclear power and has the right to master the required technology.