Annan visits Iran for talks on nuclear stand-off

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan held talks in Iran yesterday to seek help in shoring up a Hizbollah-Israel ceasefire and to discuss Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West.

Mr Annan arrived in the Iranian capital two days after the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported Tehran had failed to meet the UN Security Council's 31 August deadline to halt uranium enrichment.

Some analysts say Iran may have been emboldened in its nuclear stand-off by the Lebanon conflict, which Tehran declared a victory for its ally Hizbollah. Iran insists its atomic plans are civilian but the West says it wants to build nuclear bombs.

And yesterday European Union foreign ministers agreed to give diplomacy two more weeks to clarify Iran's nuclear stance. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, in Europe early next week. (Reuters)

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