Iran and US agree to new nuclear talks

Iran and world powers including the United States have agreed to substantive nuclear talks in Geneva next month.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said talks between Iran, Germany and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council were "substantial" and have set the stage for a new round of negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme.

Speaking after the UN meeting, Ashton told reporters all parties had agreed to "go forward with an ambitious timeframe".

She said senior negotiators would meet on October 15 and 16.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said there had been a "big improvement in the tone and spirit" from Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

The meeting marked the highest-level direct contact between the US and Iran in six years as US Secretary of State John Kerry sat next to Zarif.

After bilateral talks with his Iranian counterpart, Kerry said: "Needless to say, one meeting and a change in tone, which was welcome, doesn't answer those questions yet and there is a lot of work to be done."

Zarif criticised UN sanctions on Iran as he left the meeting, calling for them to be removed "as we move forward".

The meeting came after Iran's President Hassan Rouhani told a UN General Assembly meeting on nuclear disarmament that "no nation should possess nuclear weapons".

"As long as nuclear weapons exist, the risk of their use, threat of use and proliferation persist. The only absolute guarantee is their total elimination," he said.