Solana, who spoke on Monday with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, said that there was "always hope" to restart negotiations with Tehran, as he arrived for a meeting in Luxembourg with EU foreign ministers.
But "it's up to Tehran to accept the conditions to start serious negotiations," added Solana, who tried in vain during for three months to convince the Iranians to stop their uranium enrichment activities, as world powers demanded.
EU foreign ministers are due to acknowledge that talks with Tehran about its nuclear ambitions have failed, leaving "no choice" but to return the matter to the United Nations for sanctions, according to a draft document seen by AFP.
Major world powers have been debating sanctions to slap on Iran for ignoring an August 31 UN deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, which Washington and others fear could be subverted to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons.
"Now negotiations are taking place at the UN security Council," Solana said.
"It's up to the Security Council members to decide, but we want to keep the door open (to negotiations) as long as possible," he added.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006