Nuclear talks between the European Union (EU) and Iran seem headed for failure as the Islamic republic is using the parleys to buy time while it secretly pursues a nuclear programme, a British think tank has said.

A new round of talks between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani and foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, acting on behalf of the EU, will be held in the Swiss city of Geneva Wednesday, reports Xinhua.

"Prospects that the current negotiations between the EU3 and Iran will produce a lasting resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue are not encouraging," John Chipman, director of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, said while launching the institute's annual report here Tuesday.

"The EU3-Iran talks seem headed for inevitable failure, whether before or after the Iranian elections in June," he said.

According to the report, the talks are part of an Iranian plan aimed at buying time while the Islamic republic secretly continues to pursue its nuclear programme.

"...Tehran may be willing to tolerate the talks (and the suspension) for the time being, until it feels strong enough to resume its enrichment programme, despite the threat of Security Council action," Chipman said.

The EU has been trying to persuade Iran to permanently halt its uranium enrichment programme, but Tehran insists that it cannot compromise on its legitimate right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

"Even if it abandons the suspension, however, Iran is still several years away from achieving an enrichment capability sufficient to execute a political decision to acquire nuclear weapons," said Chipman.

The director said the best hope is that diplomatic efforts would continue, even if the current talks between the EU and Iran collapsed.

Iran and the EU began nuclear talks in October 2003 but they have been stalled since late April when Tehran threatened to resume uranium enrichment activity that it suspended last November in exchange for economic and technological incentives promised by the EU.

The US has accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, a charge Iran rejects as "politically motivated".  The EU has warned that it will back a US proposal to refer Tehran's case to the UN Security Council if it resumes nuclear activity.