Iran agrees to October nuclear talks

Iran has agreed to talks with the US and other major powers on 1 October in a last-ditch attempt to reach agreement on the country's nuclear programme before new UN sanctions are imposed, diplomats in Brussels and London have said.

The meeting will be the first substantial one between Barack Obama's administration and the Iranian government since Obama offered talks without preconditions on coming to office in January. It is likely to represent a final attempt to salvage gains from the US policy of engagement with Tehran before Washington shifts its focus to new sanctions, most probably targeting Iran's oil and gas industry.

The talks will bring together Iranian representatives with delegates from the six-nation E3+3 group of the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, which has has been seeking a compromise with Iran over its nuclear programme. Iran refuses to comply with UN security council resolutions demanding it suspend enrichment of uranium until it can prove it is for peaceful purposes.

A spokeswoman for the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, who represents the six-nation group, said a venue had yet to be agreed. She said the purpose of the meeting would be to seek "more information" about proposals made by by Tehran last week. The E3+3 group invited the proposals in April.

The Iranian package calls for wide-ranging discussions on regional security, energy, trade and investment but makes no mention of Iran's nuclear programme, which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the country's president, has declared is non-negotiable.

Western diplomats have said they hold little hope for progress from the October meeting. Some have suggested the Iranians have timed the talks to undermine a planned meeting of E3+3 foreign ministers the previous week during the UN general assembly in New York, at which the US, Britain and France intend to start pushing for new UN sanctions. A British official predicted that Russia and China would want to postpone any decision on sanctions until after the October meeting.