Vienna, Sept 10 (ZEENEWS.COM) Iran's top nuclear negotiator and the EU foreign policy chief met on Saturday in what may be a last chance to avert UN Security Council moves to hit Tehran with sanctions over its atomic ambitions.

The European Union's Javier Solana and Iran's Ali Larijani began talks after two days of uncertainty reflecting doubts over whether the talks would achieve anything.

The Solana-Larijani encounter was originally scheduled for Wednesday but postponed at the last minute.

Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said the meeting was expected to run for about three hours and it was hoped there would be a statement afterwards.

The reluctance of both sides to commit to the talks betrayed a war of nerves that has intensified since Iran ignored a council deadline of August 31 to stop enriching uranium, a process that could yield atomic bombs.

Solana will want Larijani to clarify Iran's 21-page reply to an offer from six big powers of trade and other incentives to halt its nuclear fuel program.

Specifically, Solana is expected to home in on hints in the response that Tehran could curb the program if engaged in negotiations to implement the benefits on offer.

But a diplomat familiar with Tehran's position said Larijani was likely to again rule out the powers' precondition that enrichment be suspended indefinitely. He said looming council action was only poisoning prospects for agreement.

A diplomat from one of three EU states, France, Britain and Germany, in the sextet of powers said: "We don't think this meeting will provide a basis for negotiations."

Regardless of the Vienna talks, US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said after a meeting of the six in Berlin on Friday that Washington expected the council to begin deliberations next week on a draft sanctions resolution.

But key EU allies as well as Russia and China voiced growing doubt about the speed with which Washington wanted to pursue financial and diplomatic sanctions against Tehran, its arch-foe but also the world's fourth-biggest oil exporter.

To various degrees, they prefer further talks to explore a compromise that would save face on both sides.

"The Berlin talks were not as successful as Burns described. It was basically an exchange of views," the EU diplomat said.

Iran insists it only wants to generate electricity. Western powers suspect the work is a smokescreen for efforts to build atom bombs. UN nuclear watchdog probes have raised many questions, but found no proof of diversions into bomb-making.

Tehran renewed calls for negotiations in its reply to the offer of trade inducements. But it ruled out shelving enrichment to qualify for the benefits, a step Western leaders see as vital to creating trust in Iranian intentions.