U.N. chief: Tehran wants to negotiate

Secretary-General &to=http://english.pravda.ru/world/20/91/368/15407_nuclear.html' target=_blank>Kofi Annan said Iran's top nuclear negotiator told him Thursday that Tehran is interested in "serious and constructive negotiations" with Britain, France and Germany.

During a 40-minute telephone conversation, he said, Ali Larijani told him Iran wanted to resume negotiations with the Europeans, but this time with a deadline.

"He affirmed to me that they are interested in serious and constructive negotiations but within a time frame, indicating that the last time they did it for 2 1/2 years and no result," Annan told reporters after a private lunch with Security Council members.

The foreign ministers of Germany, Britain and France said Thursday that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program had reached a "dead end" and that Tehran should be referred to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions _ a view endorsed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The ministers called for a special session of the International Atomic Energy Agency which must formally refer Iran to the Security Council.