NUCLEAR weapons only bring disaster and the world would do well to denuclearise, Iran’s foreign minister said yesterday as Tehran opened talks with the West in Geneva over its contested atomic project.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama vowed yesterday the United States will increase pressure on Iran in a unified global stand, as Tehran said it had persuaded Beijing sanctions were no longer necessary.

China would not confirm US reports that it had dropped its opposition to possible new UN sanctions against Iran, as Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator met with senior officials in Beijing.

IRAN yesterday agreed to hold talks next month with six world powers on its latest proposals to allay concerns over its nuclear programme, in a move Washington welcomed as an “important first step”.

Iran’s response to an incentives package aimed at defusing a dispute over its nuclear programme is unacceptable, US officials said, making the prospects of new sanctions against the country more likely.

IRAN has said its top nuclear negotiator and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will hold their next talks on ending the nuclear standoff on July 19, despite Western concern over the test-firing of several missiles by Tehran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that George Bush sent a “message of confrontation” during his recent trip to the Middle East.

TALKS between Iran and the European Union broke up yesterday without compromise on Tehran’s refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, and the top EU foreign policy envoy said he was disappointed at Tehran’s refusal to budge.

Nato is investigating claims that its planes killed 14 members of an Afghan civilian road construction crew while hunting Taliban fighters in a mountainous region.

Iran’s deputy nuclear negotiator abruptly cancelled a meeting with his EU counterpart today, saying he was ill.

A REPORT from the UN nuclear watchdog agency yesterday found Iran to be generally truthful about key aspects of its nuclear history, but warned its knowledge of Tehran’s atomic work was shrinking.

Iran's new top nuclear negotiator will hold his first meeting with the EU's foreign policy chief over Tehran's contentious nuclear programme today in Rome.

The Iranian government announced today that its top nuclear negotiator had resigned, a move seen as a victory for hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that could bring about an even tougher stance in ongoing talks.