Iran and the European Union (EU) will hold negotiations on economic cooperation in Brussels next week despite a deadlock on their nuclear talks, the official IRNA news agency reported in Tehran Saturday.

IRNA quoted a European official as saying that negotiators of the two sides will kick off discussions on the bilateral Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Iran and the EU started the TCA negotiations in Brussels in December 2002, with a view to putting bilateral cooperation into a contractual framework.

The TCA negotiations, put on hold in June 2003 due to concerns over Iran's nuclear program, were resumed last December following Iran's suspension of uranium enrichment-related activities.

However, the nuclear negotiations between the two sides have been stalled with Iran's rejection to a permanent halt of its uranium enrichment.

Iran is accused by the United States of developing nuclear weapons secretly, which urged to refer Iran's nuclear case to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

The EU has been trying hard to talk Iran out of its nuclear program with economic and technological incentives.

Human rights, regional security, anti-terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction will also be touched on during the Brussels talks.

Source: Xinhua