TEHRAN/BRUSSELS: Iran said yesterday it has agreed with the EU to continue talks aimed at resolving the nuclear crisis but again insisted it will press on with contested work despite the threat of more sanctions.

Top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili spoke by phone with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the point man for six major powers which have offered Iran an incentives package in return for a freeze in uranium enrichment activities.

Their talks came just days after European Union nations last week introduced fresh sanctions against Iran over its atomic drive, which Western nations fear could be a cover for a secret nuclear weapons program.

“The two sides agreed to continue negotiations in a constructive atmosphere,” Iranian state television reported. “Solana and Jalili voiced satisfaction at the constructive trend of negotiations in Geneva and the contacts afterward.”

In Brussels, Solana’s office confirmed the conversation but gave no details. “We still hope to solve the problem with Tehran through the diplomatic route, but if that’s not possible, it will be necessary to continue on the path of (UN) Security Council sanctions,” a European source in Brussels said. “The objective is to keep the door to dialogue open with Tehran with these contacts.”

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, however, reiterated that Tehran will press on with its nuclear program, despite the risk of fresh UN Security Council sanctions. “They’ve deeply understood that Iran’s peaceful nuclear program will never be halted and of course they have no choice but to keep on talking to Iran,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling visiting Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

“Despite threats and sanctions by a number of big powers, our nation is robust and is continuing living its own life as they cannot put obstacles in the path of our progress,” Ahmadinejad added, according to the state-run television website.

Iranian TV also quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that “all avenues are open” between Iran and the West to resolve their nuclear standoff. The report said yesterday that Ahmadinejad praised the US decision to participate in a multilateral talks with Iran in July.

Jalili met on July 19 in Geneva with Solana and other representatives of the six major powers, including a US official, in a shift in Washington’s policy in dealing with Tehran on the nuclear standoff. The two men also spoke by phone on Aug. 4.

On Friday, the 27-member EU announced new sanctions against Iran, including restrictions on public loans and tougher cargo inspections. The move came after Tehran gave an ambiguous answer to the demands of the six nations — UN Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.

Iran is facing a possible fourth round of UN sanctions over its refusal to halt enrichment, a process which makes nuclear fuel but also the core of an atomic bomb.

On Wednesday, Britain and the United States said the six powers now had “no choice” but to seek new UN sanctions after Iran failed to give a “clear positive response” to the incentives package.

Tehran has long denied seeking the atomic bomb, insisting that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it has the right to develop nuclear technology to generate electricity for its growing population.

Meanwhile, an Iranian Sunni rebel group claimed yesterday to have kidnapped three Revolutionary Guard officers and executed two policemen captured in June after talks with Tehran failed to secure their release, Al-Arabiya news channel reported.

The Jundullah (Soldiers of God) group captured the three officers on Sunday, the Dubai-based television said, quoting a spokesman for the group without specifying where they were seized.

The unnamed spokesman was also quoted as saying that “two border policemen have been executed out of eight that had remained captive” since they were captured on June 12.

According to the group, the border policemen were part of a group of 16 seized at a checkpoint in the town of Saravan, in restive Baloch-populated southeastern Iran, before being taken across the border into Pakistan.