But the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continued to rule out any climb down in the dispute, centred around Western fears the clerical regime could acquire nuclear weapons under the guise of an atomic energy drive.
"The two delegations insisted on a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear question," the ISNA student news agency quoted a statement from Iran's Supreme National Security Council as saying. "The two parties agreed to continue their discussions," it added.