Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has rejected international calls for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment, a day before a UN deadline runs out.

He said Iran would only do so if states seeking the suspension stopped producing nuclear fuel themselves.

Mr Ahmadinejad said he wanted talks on his nation's nuclear program, but only if no pre-conditions were imposed.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, is holding talks at the UN nuclear agency, the IAEA, in Vienna.

"We are looking for ways and means to start negotiations," he said ahead of the talks.

Iran will face sanctions if it fails to observe Wednesday's UN Security Council deadline on enrichment.

IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei has warned in a UK media interview of the speed at which Iran's nuclear work is advancing.

Meanwhile, details have emerged of US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran.

The US insists it is not planning to attack, and is trying to use diplomacy to persuade Tehran to stop uranium enrichment.

Tehran insists its program is for civil use only, but Western countries suspect Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.

'Just conditions'

Mr ElBaradei is due to report to the UN Security Council this week on whether Iran has met UN demands that it halt uranium enrichment by 21 February.

If it does not, and if the International Atomic Energy Agency confirms this, the council's resolution says that further economic sanctions will be considered.

In a speech to crowds in northern Iran, broadcast on state television, Mr Ahmadinejad called on Western nations to stop their own nuclear enrichment programs if they wanted Iran to do the same.

He said: "They tell us 'come and negotiate on Iran's nuclear issue but the condition is to stop your activities.

"We have said that we want negotiations and talks, but negotiations under just conditions.'"

The US dismissed the call to close down Western production facilities.

"Do you believe that's a serious offer?" said White House spokesman Tony Snow.

Last year Iran resumed uranium enrichment - a process that can make fuel for power stations or, if greatly enriched, material for a nuclear bomb.

Incentives urged

No details have yet been given of Mr ElBaradei's expected meeting with Mr Larijani on Tuesday.

However, the IAEA chief told the Financial Times newspaper that he would "continue to make a last-ditch effort to try to convince them [the Iranians] that it is in their interest to find a way to go into negotiations".

In an interview published on the newspaper's website late on Monday, Mr ElBaradei also warned that Iran could be only six months away from being able to enrich uranium on an industrial scale.

He said it was too late for the world to deny Iran nuclear know-how and that only negotiations could curb its nuclear ambitions.

But "there's a big difference between acquiring the knowledge for enrichment and developing a bomb", he was quoted as saying.

Mr ElBaradei also suggested the use of military force against Iran "would be catastrophic" and urged the Security Council to look at incentives as well as sanctions to bring Tehran back to the table.

The US has been pushing hard for the international community to take tough action should Iran not meet the council's demands.

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