BEIJING, Sept. 4 -- The UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has ended his two-day visit to Iran without achieving any major breakthroughs on its nuclear issue. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran won't suspend its uranium enrichment work ahead of any further negotiations. However, he did assure Annan that Iran will completely support the implementation of UN Resolution 17-0-1 on peace between Israel and Hezbollah.

    Speaking after their meeting, Annan said he would discuss Iran's nuclear issue with key members of the UN Security Council.

    Annan said:"On the nuclear issue the President re-affirmed to me Iran's preparedness and determination to negotiate and find a solution to the crisis. He indicated again that they do not accept suspension before negotiations, but they are prepared to negotiate."

    As part of that diplomatic solution, the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, will meet with Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, later this week.

    The UN chief said he hoped all parties concerned would find a way to move forward at the meeting.

    Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Manoucher Mottaki, said Iran's stance on its nuclear program was transparent enough, and that Annan is now familiar with it.

    Mottaki said now it was the turn of world powers to consider Iran's response to their package of proposals.

    Mottaki said:"If they need a deadline, we're ready to give them one, and we'd advise them to give us their opinions on Iran's response to the package quickly."

    Earlier, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman had said that they hoped they could reach a consensus over the nuclear issue in the meeting between Larijani and Solana.

    He said the exact date and place of the meeting were yet to be decided, but that it'll be within the next few days.

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    TEHRAN, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday told visiting UN chief Kofi Annan that Iran would not suspend its uranium enrichment work ahead of talks.

"On the nuclear issue, the president reaffirmed to me Iran's preparedness and commitment to hold negotiations," Annan told a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki. full story>>