France and the United States stood firm in refusing Iran's nuclear plan to build nuclear weapons, French and U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
"Iran has the right to use civil nuclear power but not to build an atomic bomb," said French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius
"We have discussed the negotiations with Iran on its nuclear (program). It is very important that France and the United States have the same position on this issue," he said when meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Hailing French-U.S. cooperation to face hard challenges, Kerry reiterated the United States' refusal of Teheran uranium enrichment to build nuclear power before a two-day meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Oman by the end of the week for fresh talks to reach a lasting deal on Teheran nuclear plan.
Iran has been a target of UN sanctions due to its alleged attempts to build nuclear weapons. The West accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under cover of civilian nuclear programs, which Iran denied.
In November 2013, Iran accepted, in exchange for limited sanctions relief, to halt enrichment above 5 percent, neutralize its stockpile of near 20 percent uranium by means of dilution or converting and not to install more centrifuges.
However, West powers asked Teheran to close more centrifuges and not to build a nuclear power.
During their meeting, Fabius and Kerry also discussed other "difficult issues", such as the situations in Syria and Iraq.