Iran has accused the US of "poisoning" the course of the ongoing nuclear negotiations. "The US intends to poison the course of the negotiations through constant antagonism, although Iran has constantly stressed negotiations for realising its nuclear rights," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had said the postponement of Thursday's meeting between the European Union's foreign policy Chief Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in Paris indicated the Islamist state would likely not meet international demands to halt uranium enrichment.

Rice kept open the possibility of halting efforts at the UN Security Council to enact sanctions provided that Iran complied, but said cancelling the meeting showed hope for that option was fading.

"The US tries to achieve its own interests through deviating the current negotiation course," the Iranian spokesperson said, warning such tactics would eventually lead to US "isolation" and urging Washington to have "a bit more patience".

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday during a visit to Dakar that Iran would support unconditional talks on the nuclear dispute and that the issue could be settled as long as internationally-acknowledged laws were taken into consideration - a reference to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Iran has signed.

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