French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Tuesday that France was ready to renew dialogue with Iran on its nuclear program but insisted on suspension of uranium enrichment.

"The Iranian authorities said they were open to the dialogue and ready to resume discussions," Douste-Blazy said two days ahead of the deadline for the ultimatum by the world's major powers which demands that Iran suspends uranium enrichment.

"Without abandoning the demand to suspend sensitive activities, France is also ready to renew dialogue," he told an annual meeting of French ambassadors.

"But it must be a clear, concrete and responsible dialogue," Douste-Blazy said. France hoped for an early dialogue to finally solve the Iranian nuclear problem.

"At the moment, Tehran's response to proposals from the international community is unsatisfactory," said the French minister. "It remains ambiguous and seems to continue to ignore the essential questions of uranium enrichment and reprocessing.

"This move is essential to re-establish the confidence for all the parties during the negotiations," he said.

Tension has escalated with Iran refusing to suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, as demanded by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (Britain, China, France, Russia and United States) plus Germany. The U.N. Security Council has given Iran the ultimatum of suspending activities on August 31 or face the threat of sanctions.

According to the French foreign ministry, Douste-Blazy met on Tuesday with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier and they considered it was necessary to restart dialogue with Iran.