Germany says it will host six nations this week for high-level talks on Iran's nuclear program.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner Monday said the talks will be held at a senior civil servant level. He declined to give details on the meeting's location or the exact day, but officials from the United Nations and France say it will take place in Frankfurt this week.
The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, plus Germany have met regularly to discuss Iran's nuclear program. This week's meeting is expected to focus on whether to impose harsher U.N. sanctions on the Islamic republic.
Western nations accuse Iran of trying to enrich uranium to build a nuclear bomb, but Iranian authorities deny the accusations and say they are pursuing nuclear energy.
In a report issued Friday, the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran has increased the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges by around 1,000 to 8,300. But the report said the number of centrifuges that were actually functioning has decreased.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
