US under secretary of state for political affairs, Nicholas Burns, huddled with his counterparts from the so-called EU-3 countries negotiating with Tehran to assess Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's latest proposals to allay Western concern about Tehran's nuclear arms ambitions.

Sunday's talks in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, were held a day before a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, in Vienna on the crisis.

In his speech to the UN General Assembly here Saturday, Ahmadinejad unveiled a series of proposals, including an offer to involve foreign firms in Iran's uranium-enrichment program but stood firm on pursuing uranium conversion activities.

"All of us remain firm in our belief that Iran should return immediately to the EU-3 negotiating process," said a State Department official, who asked not to be named. "We look forward to being able to present our views to the other members of the IAEA board in Vienna at the meeting tomorrow."

Addressing the General Assembly Sunday, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Ahmadinejad's speech "place the international community in front of its responsibilities, with referral to the Security Council on the agenda to bolster the IAEA authority."

"The integrity of the non-proliferation regime is at stake," he added.

He stressed that the EU-3 had proposed to Iran "a constructive approach" to open the way for a new relationship between Tehran and the world community.

"This relationship is currently jeopardized by concern over Iran's nuclear program," he told the assembly.

"One would have hoped that he (Ahmadinejad) might have chosen a speech with more humility, a speech with a greater inclination to compromise," Burns told the BBC Sunday. "He was quite defiant ... That did not leave a lot of room for compromise, for diplomacy."

"I think that ultimately there is going to be a referral to the Security Council," he added. "The question is when that happens and it is just still unclear right now."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described the Iranian speech as "disappointing and unhelpful", but nevertheless told the BBC that the crisis "will not be resolved by military means".

Ahmadinejad told the assembly that Iran would not only continue its uranium conversion work but had an "inalienable right to have access to a nuclear fuel cycle."

Iran insists such work is only for peaceful purposes and a right it should enjoy as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Last November, Iran agreed to suspend sensitive work on nuclear fuel - that could be used to build a bomb - under the so-called Paris agreement, but Tehran resumed its fuel-cycle work in August after angrily rejecting the latest offer from the EU-3.

The Europeans are trying to coax Iran into renouncing a nuclear weapons capability in return for economic and security incentives.

Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin said Iran was cooperating "sufficiently" with the IAEA, telling Fox News television Sunday that sanctions would be "tough" and cause "more problems."

"Today the Iranian side is working sufficiently in cooperation with the IAEA. So let's proceed with the circumstances of today," Putin said.

The Russian leader said that during a meeting last week with Ahmadinejad in New York, "he assured me that the Iranian side wants to continue negotiations with the European three at least, and we are going to proceed from there."

In his speech, Ahmadinejad also suggested that South Africa join the negotiations to resolve the crisis over Tehran's nuclear program, noting Pretoria's active role in the IAEA's Board of Governors.

French officials said EU-3 negotiators discussed the Iranian nuclear issue with Russian and South African officials.

Burns told the BBC that discussions with Russia, China and India, three countries having good relations with Tehran, had established that they agreed that Iran should not acquire nuclear weapons.

"Russia and India specifically have some influence on Iran," he said. "So we would hope they would use that influence in a responsible way."

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