Wednesday, June 28 2006 12:46 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

United Nations: United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked Iran to speed up its response to the recent European Union proposals on ending the impasse over its uranium enrichment plans.

Annan made the plea during a 45-minute meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Motaki yesterday during which the two mostly discussed regional issues.

The Secretary-General expects that ongoing technical negotiations will continue among the parties" on ending the impasse, a UN spokesman said after the meeting.

Earlier this month in Geneva, Annan had also urged Iran to give an early answer to the offer of incentives by the five Permanent Security Council Members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US) and Germany in return for Iran's abandoning its uranium enrichment programme.

Iran says its activities are aimed at the production of energy but the United States and its western allies insist that Tehran is clandestinely seeking to produce nuclear weapons.

Last August, Iran rescinded its voluntary suspension of nuclear fuel conversion, which can produce the enriched uranium necessary either for nuclear power generation or for nuclear weapons.

Annan and Motaki also exchanged views on Iraq in the context of the meeting of regional partners that Iran is expected to convene in its capital Teheran early this month.

Among other regional matters, they discussed Afghanistan, including collaboration between that country and Iran on border security and combating drug trafficking.