Talks set for Wednesday here between EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani have been postponed and will be held "in a couple of days," Iranian ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said.
"We will not have the meeting today (Wednesday) in Vienna but it will be held in a couple of days" in Vienna, Soltanieh said.
The talks had been tentatively set for Wednesday in Vienna as a final attempt to see if there was common ground to start negotiations between six world powers and Iran, despite Tehran's defiance of a UN Security Council demand that it freeze uranium enrichment.
But while the European Union's Javier Solana was ready to fly to the Austrian capital at short notice, the diplomats and officials said Tehran had yet to say if nuclear envoy Ali Larijani would come.
The council deadline on an enrichment moratorium ran out on August 31. Still, the five permanent council members and Germany -- the six powers attempting to entice Iran into negotiating on its nuclear program -- had decided to hold off starting work on sanctions until the outcome of any talks between Solana and Larijani.
Iran's unyielding stance appears to be based on the calculation that sanctions will be opposed by Russia and China, both veto-wielding Security Council members that have major commercial ties with Iran.
{{/usCountry}}Iran's unyielding stance appears to be based on the calculation that sanctions will be opposed by Russia and China, both veto-wielding Security Council members that have major commercial ties with Iran.
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