Iran is close to a deal that would include a temporary suspension of uranium enrichment and clear the way for nuclear talks, it was reported today.
The deal could be completed either today or tomorrow when EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani are set to meet in Europe, the report in the Washington Timessaid, citing Bush administration officials.
The newspaper said that under the agreement Iran would halt uranium enrichment for 90 days so additional talks could be held with several European nations. It reported Tehran wants to keep the agreement secret.
Mr Solana and Mr Larijani had been expected to meet before but two meetings scheduled this month were postponed.
Asked about Iran's secrecy demand, a State Department spokesman told the newspaper: "The terms laid out by the Security Council are clear. Iran needs to suspend its uranium enrichment activities and it needs to do so in a verifiable way.
"If it does, we can start negotiations. If it doesn't, we move to sanctions," he said.
The United States, France, Russia, China, Britain and Germany offered Iran a package of incentives in June aimed at persuading Tehran to abandon technology that could be used to make a nuclear weapon.
Iran says its nuclear program is for electricity generation and has so far ignored an August 31st UN Security Council deadline to suspend enrichment.
Suspending uranium enrichment, a process of purifying uranium for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or atomic weapons, is a precondition for talks on the incentives offered by the Western powers.