TEHRAN, March 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran on Sunday denied nuclear negotiations with the European Union (EU) had reached a deadlock, saying it hoped the two sides would reach an agreement, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

   "Nuclear talks will continue although they have lasted more than what we have expected, but we think we can still reach a conclusion," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted as saying.

   However, Asefi said the results of the talks have fallen far short of Iran's expectations, stressing the talks were "intense and complicated".

   "An agreement by the two sides to meet again means they don't want the talks to fail," Asefi underlined.

   Asefi further said Tehran and Europe had come close to a solution proposed by Iran on providing objective guarantees that Iran's nuclear program would not divert from its peaceful course.

   "Iran's proposal was presented to the EU during chief negotiator Hassan Rowhani's visit to Berlin and Paris in late February," Asefi said, without elaborating.

   Iran and the EU on Friday wrapped up the fourth round of nuclear negotiations, but the two sides failed to reach agreements on many key issues.

   The EU asked Tehran to provide "objective guarantees" of its claimed peaceful nature of nuclear activities, a demand commonly defined as a permanent suspension of Tehran's work on uranium enrichment.

   A report signed by foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany in Brussels on Friday threatened that Europe would support to refer Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council if the talks failed.

   The United States accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons and urged to refer the country's case to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. Enditem