Brussels - Top diplomats from the so-called "5+1" group of world powers were to meet in Brussels on Friday to discuss how to respond to Iran's refusal to reach a nuclear deal, diplomats said Thursday. Officials from the UN Security Council's five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - plus Germany were also to hold talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, spokeswoman Cristina Gallach told the German Press Agency dpa.
The meeting was to take place a day after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad brushed off international warnings after rejecting a compromise deal on the country's controversial nuclear programme.
US President Barack Obama said earlier Thursday in Seoul that the US and its international allies would discuss "consequences," most likely in the form of tougher sanctions against Iran, after the Islamic state has not yet accepted a deal negotiated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
A Western diplomat at the IAEA in Vienna said discussions would also centre on whether a proposed deal to send Iranian uranium abroad in exchange for nuclear fuel for a medical reactor in Tehran was dead or not.
So far, Tehran has not officially responded in writing to the agreement drafted by the IAEA, but various Iranian politicians have called for substantial changes, further negotiations, or for rejecting the plan.
"It is unfolding as everyone hoped it would not unfold," the diplomat said, "but as everyone expected it would."
