World powers move towards new Iran sanctions

By Francois Murphy

PARIS (Reuters) - World powers held a "positive" meeting on Saturday aimed at agreeing more U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program and a deal on punitive measures could be reached within weeks, a French diplomat said.

The meeting of senior officials in Paris took place the day after last-ditch talks between European Union mediator Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator, which the French diplomat described as "a disaster".

A decision on new sanctions could not be reached at Saturday's meeting as Russia's envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak, was prevented from flying because of snow in Canada, but the French diplomat said progress was made.

"The meeting went well, in a positive spirit, and we have elements that allow us reasonably to believe that we will be able to have a resolution in the short term," the diplomat, who declined to be identified, told reporters.

"I am relatively optimistic that we will have a resolution in the coming weeks," he added.

The five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany agreed in September to delay sanctions against Iran until the end of November, pending reports on an investigation by the U.N. nuclear watchdog and a European Union mediation effort.

The states decided that if the reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the EU's Solana did not show "a positive outcome", they would agree on more sanctions against Iran and put it to a vote in the Council.

Solana said his last meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator on Friday was disappointing, and an EU envoy gave a negative report on Solana's behalf on Saturday.