Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will hold a meeting in Portugal on Saturday for a new round of talks over Tehran's nuclear program, Iranian state television reported on Tuesday.

The meeting in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon is arranged in line with the invitation from Portuguese officials, the television said on its website, quoting a statement from Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

The new round of talks between Larijani and Solana would be a follow-up to the discussions held in Madrid last month between the two sides, the statement said.

Larijani met with Solana in Madrid, Spain, late last month, but their latest talks failed to break the deadlock over Tehran's nuclear program.

On March 24, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a new resolution, the second punitive one, with tougher sanctions to pressure Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities.

However, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report in May said that Iran continued to resist the UN Security Council ban on enrichment and instead was expanding its activities.

In a speech to political officials of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Larijani blasted western countries for practicing force and adopting irrational measures against Iran's nuclear program, local Fars news agency reported.

"Sometimes in our meetings, they (Western negotiators) tell us that their opposition to Iran's progress in nuclear science is due to the fact that Iran enjoys a very remarkable strategic position, its revolution is inspiring and influential and it has powerful and efficient human force while it is not dependent on the East or West," he was quoted as saying.

"Since they can't touch Iran's geopolitical significance, they have embarked on undermining Iran's development and military power, " Larijani said.

He stressed that an analysis of the UN Security Council resolutions against Iran indicates that the Islamic Republic is moving on the trend of growth and development.

Source: Xinhua