Saeed Jalili will meet European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, conducting the meeting involving the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, in Geneva on Monday amid tensions heightened by bomb attacks in Tehran and leaks of sensitive US diplomatic cables.

The “P5+1” countries, which have not held substantive talks with Iran since October 2009, want assurances Tehran is telling the truth when it says it is not seeking to derive nuclear weapons from its declared civilian atomic energy program.

With Israel and Washington holding out the ultimate option of military action to stop Iran getting the bomb if diplomacy fails, relations were already poor before the killing on Monday of an Iranian nuclear scientist in a bomb attack, something Tehran blamed on Britain, the United States and Israel.

Briefing reporters about the talks, Jalili struck a positive note. “We see negotiations as a ground for further interaction and cooperation.” But he insisted Iran would not negotiate away its nuclear “rights” — code language for its uranium enrichment work — and urged an end to the powers’ “two-track” approach of imposing sanctions while seeking a negotiated solution.

“The fact that the P5+1 has come to the conclusion that it should come to the talks, we welcome this fact. However, this is not enough,” he said.

“In order for talks to continue, the wrong strategy of the past must be set aside and the talks should continue. Adopting a double standard will not do.”

The talks will start one week after two daylight bomb attacks on nuclear scientists in Iran killed one and wounded the other. No one has claimed responsibility but Iran called it a “terrorist” attack by Israeli, British and US intelligence.

“Terrorism is a sign of the pressure strategies failing,” Jalili said. “The assassination of Dr. (Majid) Shahriyari on the one hand cancels out the pressure strategy and on the other strongly supports the legitimate right of the Iranian people and the ideals of the Islamic Revolution.”

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran’s uranium enrichment — a process which can yield fuel for both civil and military uses — would not be discussed at the Geneva talks despite it being the central concern for the other parties.

Jalili emphasized: “Just as in (previous) talks we did not allow Iran’s rights to be undermined, we will be pursuing the same course in this latest round.”