Iran letter does not justify new nuclear meeting: EU

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Iran's response to a letter from the European Union aimed at reviving talks on Tehran's nuclear program contains nothing new and does not appear to justify another meeting, the bloc said on Wednesday.

"On its own, Mr. Jalili's letter does not contain anything new and does not seem to justify a further meeting," said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, referring to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.

"We are surprised to hear the Iranians talking about meetings. They have not been in touch with us with any proposals," she said. "We will be in touch with the Iranians with the aim of creating the basis to renew dialogue."

The United States and its allies say they 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 growing domestic demand for electricity.

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

In March, the six world powers that have taken part in the talks with Iran said "the door remains open" for dialogue but made clear Tehran must engage in good-faith negotiations to solve the eight-year dispute.

The Iranian negotiator, Saeed Jalili, responded on Tuesday to a letter sent by Ashton three months ago aimed at getting Iran to commit to new talks.

He said the talks should be just and "refrain from resorting to pressure instruments," something analysts said indicated Tehran would stick to its refusal to address its uranium enrichment drive.

(Reporting by Justyna Pawlak, writng by David Brunnstrom; editing by Elizabeth Piper)