Six-way meeting to discuss Iran standoff
Foreign Desk Report

MOSCOW--Foreign ministers of the six major powers seeking a compromise deal over Iran's nuclear programme are to meet in London on Friday, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman said.
"A meeting of foreign ministers of the six will be held on Friday in London," Mikhail Kamynin was quoted by Interfax as saying during a visit to Poland. The so-called P5-plus-1 group is made up of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States -- and Germany.
The six powers agreed to set a new deadline this week for Iran to comply with a UN resolution demanding it freeze its uranium enrichment programme, which Washington and others believe is a cover for developing nuclear weapons.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is pressing for sanctions on Iran, warned this week that the credibility of the international community is on the line and time is "running out."
Iran insists its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful energy needs and has vowed it will not suspend uranium enrichment, defying warnings of sanctions from world powers.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana have staged four rounds of talks on Iran's nuclear programme but have failed to make a breakthrough.