"In the next two weeks there will be discussions with Mr Solana about our nuclear case, and next week I will go to Spain and I will meet with Mr Solana," Larijani was quoted by state news agency IRNA as saying.

Solana, meeting with Group of Eight foreign ministers in Moscow at talks expected to cover the Iran crisis, said the meeting would probably be Wednesday and would be "in Europe, probably in Brussels."

On June 6, Solana handed Iran a proposal from the five permanent UN Security Council members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.

It promises incentives and multilateral talks if Iran agrees to temporarily halt uranium enrichment, something Tehran has so far refused to do.

The enrichment work is at the centre of international concerns that Iran is using a Russian-backed civilian nuclear power programme to pursue a secret weapons plan.

Tehran vehemently denies such allegations, saying it wants nuclear technology only to generate electricity.

Diplomats say Iran was asked to reply by June 29, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week Tehran would take until August 22 to answer.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in Moscow Thursday that Iran must reply before the G8 summit, which begins on July 15.

"We expect their reply before July 15 ... It seems clear to me that Iran will say yes. Then there will be negotiations," he said.

"If the response is negative between now and July 15, then it is clear that the international community will be firm and that, in particular, we will continue what we have begun in the (UN) Security Council," he added, referring to discussions over potential measures against Iran.