Iran halts nuclear talks after US blacklist move

Tehran (AFP) — Iranian negotiators halted nuclear talks with major powers to return to Tehran for consultations after Washington blacklisted a dozen companies and individuals for evading US sanctions, state media reported.

"The Iranian negotiators interrupted the talks with the P5+1 for consultations in Tehran," a negotiator told Iran's official IRNA news agency.

The negotiators had been discussing the implementation of a landmark interim accord agreed last month with the P5+1 -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany.

The decision to halt the talks in Vienna came hours after Washington blacklisted a dozen overseas companies and individuals for evading US sanctions on Iran.

The move prompted two top senators to bow to White House pleas not to introduce new sanctions in Congress.

But it risked angering Tehran after repeated warnings from Iranian officials in recent days that any additional punitive measures would be a violation of last month's agreement.

Under the interim deal reached in Geneva, Iran agreed to freeze parts of its suspect nuclear programme for six months in return for some $7 billion in relief from Western sanctions as it negotiates a final, comprehensive accord to allay suspicions it is seeking a weapons capability.

The United States also agreed to refrain from slapping new sanctions on Iran, but senior administration officials argued that Thursday's measures were taken as part of the existing sanctions regime which had forced Tehran to the negotiating table.