The European Union pledged on Monday to make a "bold" offer to persuade Iran to curb its atomic ambitions, including possible security guarantees and hi-tech help to develop peaceful nuclear power.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the 25-nation bloc, tasked with trying to defuse the West's diplomatic stand-off with the Islamic state, could offer Tehran "the most sophisticated" technology to help its power needs.
"We want to prove to the Iranians that we have nothing against ... Iran to use nuclear power for peaceful means," he told reporters, adding that: "We are going to present a plan to them, a co-operative project to them."
"If they want to construct nuclear energy power plants they will have, in co-operation with the European union and other members of the international community, the best and most sophisticated technology." The EU, whose package must also satisfy Russia and China, has until Friday - when negotiators from the Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany meet in London - to complete its work.
Solana played down comments by Ahmadinejad, rejecting any new EU offer that might demand that the Islamic republic halt uranium enrichment activities.
"Any offer which requires us to halt our peaceful nuclear activities will be invalid," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Sunday by the state news agency IRNA.
"I am surprised that a group of people holds meetings without us being present there and makes decisions for us," he said.
Solana said the Iranians had yet to see the EU offer, but vowed: "It will be a generous package, a bold package, that will contain issues relating to nuclear, economic matters, and maybe, if necessary, security matters."