BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Russian and Iranian officials agreed to continue negotiations on Moscow's uranium enrichment proposal on Monday, bringing new hope for progress on the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki speaks at a press conference in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Feb. 20, 2006. Mottaki said on Monday his country would consider Russia's proposal on uranium enrichment, bringing new hope for progress in the Iranian nuclear issue. (Xinhua)

    "The talks with the Iranian delegation in the Kremlin has concluded ... An agreement was reached to continue the talks," the press service of the Russian Security Council was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

    Monday's talks were held behind closed doors and led by the deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, Valentin Sobolev, and the deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Hosseinitash.

    After the talks, Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanovmet the Iranian officials.

    The Russian Security Council gave no indication of when or where the talks would resume. But the Foreign Ministry said talks may be continued on Tuesday in Moscow. The Iranian delegation is reportedly to head home on Tuesday.

    The talks focused on the Russian proposal to shift Iran's uranium enrichment activities to Russian territory. Western countries have backed Moscow's compromise plan, saying it could help allay concerns over Iran potentially producing weapons-grade nuclear material.

    Uranium enriched at low levels can fuel nuclear reactors, but if highly enriched it can be used for nuclear bombs.

    The Russian plan is seen as a crucial attempt to resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program before a March 6 meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the talks that the discussion with Iran could allow the nuclear issue to stay within the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

    In Brussels, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his country would consider Russia's proposal, bringing new hope for progress in the Iranian nuclear issue.

    "In the Russian proposal, some main elements should be considered as well as participants to the project, (such as) place or places of enrichment, (and) period of implementation of this project," Mottaki told reporters at a press conference.

    The foreign minister is in Brussels for talks with senior European Union (EU) officials, including the bloc's foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

    But he insisted that Iran should be allowed to continue its nuclear research and development activities.

    He said time and place were the two most important issues around the Russian proposal, adding: "We continue cooperation from where we are now."

    Solana said Mottaki had made no new proposals to EU officials. "The substantive position (of Iran) has not changed," he told reporters.

    "We hope very much from the Iranian side some movement will take place before that date," he said.

    "If nothing happens, the Iranian government should know what may happen on March 6."

    Iran removed the seals of the IAEA at its nuclear research sites and resumed nuclear research in January, prompting the EU to scrap talks.

    In early February, Britain, France and Germany, who had been in talks on behalf of the EU with Tehran for more than two years, pushed through an IAEA resolution to report the issue to the United Nations Security Council.

    Also on Monday, Iran termed as positive, but not desirable, a recent IAEA proposal of allowing it to conduct small-scale uraniumenrichment work, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    "The International Atomic Energy Agency's proposal on small-scale enrichment inside Iran is a positive step toward resolving the nuclear issue but is not what Iran desires," government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham was quoted as saying.

    It was reported that IAEA Director General Mohamed El Baradei has recently expressed his concern that it would be hard to reach a compromise on Iran's nuclear issue unless the Islamic Republic is allowed to conduct small-scale enrichment work.

    According to ElBaradei, a deal could be made by permitting Iran to operate a pilot enrichment plant for small-scale work in exchange for Tehran's withdrawal from industrial-scale enrichment. Enditem