A senior Iranian envoy on Thursday called contacts between Tehran and the European Union a «step in the right direction» in resolving the standoff over his country's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment. Ali Ashgar Soltanieh spoke as senior EU and Iranian representatives met in a new round of talks on enrichment and other nuclear differences between Tehran and the international community, the Associated Press reported. That meeting, originally scheduled for Paris, was moved at the last minute to Geneva for «logistical reasons,» EU spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said, without elaboration. Only «the continuation of dialogue and negotiations free from any kind of threat, pressure or any preconditions can pave the way» to a negotiated solution, Soltanieh told a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board shortly before the end of its four-day conference.
