The European Union foreign ministers agreed on Saturday to give Iran a "short" period to clarify its stance on halting controversial nuclear program, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said.

"There is no deadline," Solana told reporters after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Lappeenranta, southern Finland.

The EU foreign policy chief will meet Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani next week to try to clear up ambiguities in Tehran's response to an incentive package.

The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany offered Iran an incentive package in exchange for commitment from Tehran to freeze its uranium enrichment.

The UN Security Council ratified Resolution 1696 on Iran's nuclear issue in July, which urged Tehran to suspend all activities related to enrichment before Aug. 31, otherwise it would face sanctions.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had referred a report on Iran's implementation of the resolution to the UN Security Council and the UN nuclear watchdog's Board of Governors.

A statement from the IAEA did not reveal details of the report. But diplomats in Vienna said Iran had disregarded Resolution 1696 and failed to stop enriching uranium before the Aug. 31 deadline.

Source: Xinhua