Iran on Friday defined a latest round of negotiations with the European Union (EU) in Vienna as constructive and helpful as a decisive meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog is approaching.
Javad Vaeidi, Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying in Vienna that both Iran and the EU had clarified their viewpoints during the negotiations held earlier.
"A constructive atmosphere reigned over Friday's talks with the European trio (of Britain, France and Germany), in which Iran and Europe agreed on some points, although there were disagreements as well," Vaeidi said.
Vaeidi made the comments in an interview with Iranian media soon after the talks concluded between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and foreign ministers of the European trio.
The senior negotiator said the talks were "held at a high political level relying on both sides' political will to reach a shared agreement."
"During this round of talks the two sides reached the required agreements on the need for solving Iran's nuclear case at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," he said.
Vaeidi also said that the latest status of the Iran-Russia talks on a Russian proposal over uranium enrichment on the Russian soil was also "surveyed" during the talks with the Europeans.
Russia proposed last December that the two countries establish a joint venture in Russia to enrich uranium for Iran, holding that the offer will secure Iran's legal nuclear rights while guaranteeing the peaceful use of the technology.
Tehran and Moscow have held three rounds of negotiations on the Kremlin offer since Feb. 20.
Echoing Vaeidi, spokesman of the Supreme National Security Council Hossein Entezami also evaluated the recent talks with the European trio and Russia as constructive.
"In talks in Moscow, the Iranian and Russian sides reached an agreement on elements of a model which could serve as the basis for a settlement of the existing differences on the nuclear case within the IAEA framework," said Entezami in an exclusive interview with IRNA in Vienna.
Friday's talks with the EU, coming one day after Larijani concluded the third round of discussions with Russian officials on the compromise plan, were viewed as a last-ditch effort by the Iranian side to cool down the tension before the upcoming IAEA meeting on Monday.
However, due to Iran's rejection to return to a moratorium on its activities related to uranium enrichment, Tehran's eleventh- hour talks with Russia and the EU failed to make tangible breakthrough.
In order to build a more benign climate for bargaining at the upcoming IAEA meeting, Larijani also held talks with IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei hours after his discussions with the three EU foreign ministers, during which he suggested that Iran should accept a selective suspension on its enrichment-related work.
Also on Friday, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani accused the EU and Russia of trying to hinder Iran's development on the nuclear issue and adopting inappropriate approaches in order to deprive the Islamic Republic of its legal rights.
"Even the enemies confirm Iran's right to nuclear energy, but they are oppressively seeking to deprive the country of this right by illegitimately using their influence, especially in international fora," Rafsanjani was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying.
Rafsanjani, who currently chairs the powerful Expediency Council, also warned that the approaches adopted by the West on the Iranian nuclear issue could cause problems for the Middle East and the world.
"Only the faintest signs of rationality, wisdom, and logic can be observed in the West's approach toward Iran's nuclear program. Such an illogical approach can lead to the emergence of problems for the world, the region, and Iran," he said.
The IAEA board of governors in early February adopted a resolution to report Iran's case to the UN Security Council but called on the powerful UN body to withhold punitive actions until the agency's meeting on March 6.
The current tension over Iran's nuclear issue came after Tehran resumed nuclear fuel research work on Jan. 10 and the crisis escalated as Iran disallowed IAEA's snap inspections and resumed small-scale enrichment work, a retaliative move against the IAEA resolution.
The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, and the EU, insisting that Iran's full mastery of nuclear fuel cycle technology will possibly lead to military usage, has been trying to press Iran to transfer its uranium enrichment to Russia.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is fully peaceful and aimed at meeting rising domestic demand for electricity, vowing not to give up its rights.