EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton is seeking direct talks with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme, and the prospects are looking favourable, officials said Monday.

Ashton, who held talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Brussels Monday, is asking Ankara to contact the Iranian authorities and try to organise talks on behalf of the six world powers involved in efforts to persuade Tehran to give up its nuclear programme, a spokesman said.

Europe and the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian nuclear energy programme, a charge Tehran denies.

Davutoglu has suggested talks between Ashton, as a representative of the so-called P5+1 group, and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

Ashton would hold negotiations with Tehran on behalf of the P5+1 group, which consists of permanent UN Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany.

Ashton already has Washington's blessing for such talks.

Speaking on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers' meeting, Ashton said she was prepared to talk with Iran's leaders, but only about the nuclear issue.

"If Iran wishes to contact me directly to propose that we have real discussions on the issue of nuclear weapons capability, I'd be pleased to discuss that" with the six powers involved in negotiating with Iran.

That topic would have to be "the specific and only subject" of any such talks, British peer Ashton insisted.

And she added during a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels that she expected the United Nations Security Council to bring the matter to "some kind of resolution over... the next four to six weeks."

Davutoglu, at a later press conference, said he had held telephone talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on the subject.

"I am optimistic that talks could be launched in the coming days," he said.

"Iran said it was ready to do that with Ashton," he added.

The prospect of talks and the threat of sanctions is in line with the "twin track" approach adopted by the West in its dealings on the issue.

"We continue to be very concerned about the Iranian nuclear programme and the human rights situation in that country," Ashton told reporters.

"We are supporting the process of the security council on new restrictive measures. I believe proposals will be adopted very rapidly."

The EU's top diplomat said the details of the fresh sanctions which may be imposed have not been determined yet.

Mottaki has already welcomed the idea of new talks with the Western powers over his country's nuclear programme, possibly in Turkey, Turkish media reported last Friday.

Turkey and Brazil, both non-permanent members of the Security Council opposed to fresh sanctions against Iran, have recently stepped up efforts for a diplomatic solution of tensions over the Islamic republic's nuclear activities.