EU nuclear proposal unbalanced: Iran

"The European proposal is their preliminary proposition and is not definitive but it is unbalanced," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said.

Iran will reject "any unlimited suspension" of its uranium enrichment activities as called for in the deal offered to Tehran by the European Three -- Britain, France and Germany, he added.

But Assefi told reporters that the decision to engage in negotiations with the Europeans was the right one, adding: "Today we are on the right path."

The three European states presented Iran with a deal Thursday aimed at avoiding possible UN sanctions under which Tehran would receive valuable nuclear technology if it indefinitely suspended all uranium enrichment activities.

The proposal was seen as a last chance for Iran before the UN watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) decides on November 25 whether Iran is cooperating with the international community nuclear activities.

The United States wants the IAEA, which since February 2003 has been investigating US claims that Iran has a covert nuclear weapons programme, to refer Tehran to the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions.

Tehran has long insisted it is seeking only to generate electricity and on its right to uranium enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian reactors but can also manufacture the explosive material for atomic bombs.