Paris: Representatives of the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany met today to discuss Iran's contested nuclear programme after last-ditch talks failed to produce a breakthrough.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he was "disappointed" after the talks in London yesterday with Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, hours before a deadline for him to report back to world powers on the issue.

"I have to admit that after five hours of meetings I expected more, and therefore I am disappointed," Solana told reporters.

The talks were seen as a last chance for Tehran before a possible new round of sanctions, though hopes of a breakthrough had been slim.

Jalili said yesterday that Iran was not to blame for the disappointment expressed by Solana.

"The fact is that we defended the Iranian nation s rights and stressed fulfilling our duties and that the Iranian nation will not accept anything that goes beyond the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he said.

"If some people have become disappointed because they cannot deprive Iran of its natural rights then this is another matter," Jalili told reporters after arriving back in Tehran.

Solana s advisor was to brief the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany- the six powers involved in the dossier- whose representatives met in Paris on yesterday.

Source : PTI