The Iranian position was set out in a response to a letter sent by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton three months ago as western states try to get Iran to commit to new talks.

Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, in his letter to Ashton, underlined that the next talks should be "just" and "refrain from resorting to pressure instruments."

Analysts said such references were Iranian code meaning there could be no discussions of enrichment, which Tehran sees as its sovereign right. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said again on Monday that Iran would not give ground on enrichment.

The US and its allies suspect Iran is trying to develop atomic bombs under the cover of its declared civilian nuclear energy program. Tehran says it needs nuclear power only to meet booming domestic demand for electricity.

Negotiations in Istanbul in January failed after Tehran again rejected any notion of suspending enrichment in exchange for trade and technology benefits, as called for by several U.N. Security Council resolutions passed since 2006.

Reuters