Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana, would meet today in Paris to discuss Iran's nuclear program, the French Foreign Ministry announced yesterday.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy was optimistic in Brussels that the upcoming meeting would be a success.

"I think that we can now reach an agreement on the text (of a UN draft resolution)," he told reporters after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"We are in agreement with Russia to adopt sanctions against the Iranian program of proliferation," he added.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in late July, urging Tehran to suspend by Aug. 31 all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, or face possible sanctions.

The Iranian government, led by fire-brand President Ahmedinejad reiterated that the country would press ahead with its nuclear program heedless of UN warnings. ran has repeatedly said its nuclear energy agenda is limited to generating electricity.

The six nations have already held several informal meetings on the possible sanctions which are regarded as too tough by Russia.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2006)