LONDON, Jan. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Britain is to host informal talks on Iran's nuclear program on Monday, spokesman for the British Foreign Office Neil Kernohan told Xinhua.

    British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will be sitting down to a "private ministerial dinner" on Monday night in London with his counterparts from France, Germany, Russia, the United States, and China, Kernohan said.

    No decisions will be made at the meeting, but it will prepare the ground for Thursday's board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said.

    According to Sky news, Britain is expected to lead calls, with the backing of France, Germany and the US, for Iran to be referred to the United Nations (UN) Security Council at a board meeting in Vienna this week.

    Iran is currently under mounting pressure from the European Union (EU) and the United States to halt its nuclear fuel research work which it resumed on Jan. 10 after a two-and-half-year suspension.

    Iran suspended activities at its Isfahan facility in a deal with France, Germany and Britain, the so-called EU-3, in 2004 November but resumed work at the plant in August last year, resulting in the suspension of nuclear talks between the trio and the Central Asian state.

    The EU and the U.S. suspect Tehran is trying to develop weaponsunder cover of a civilian atomic energy program, a charge Iran vehemently denies.

    Iran insists its program is purely peaceful and has threatened to cut off cooperation with international inspectors if the matteris taken up by the UN Security Council. Enditem