LUXEMBOURG, Feb 10 (AFP) - Nuclear talks between the European Union and Iran were "moving forward," but Europe will not soften in its resolve to keep Tehran out of the nuclear weapons club, a senior EU minister said Thursday.
"We're moving forward," said Jean Asselborn, foreign minister of Luxembourg which currently holds the EU presidency.
But "the Iranians must realize that we will not play with them. And they must not play with us."
Asselborn said Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi would visit Luxembourg next week, but did not give a date.
He spoke as Europe's big three -- Britain, France and Germany -- held a third day of talks with Tehran representatives in Geneva in a bid to secure a firm guarantee that Iran is not secretly developing nuclear weapons.
Europe, Asselborn stressed, is "firmly opposed to Iran having a nuclear bomb."
The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana meanwhile said he hoped there will be "by the end of the week some positive news on the negotiations" in Geneva.
The two men were speaking at a press conference here as Rice ended her first European tour as secretary of state, before flying off to the United States.
02/10/2005 14:54 GMT - AFP