As Iran sets October 1 as the date for wide-ranging talks with six world powers, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana says Turkey will probably host the meeting.

"It has not been finally decided, but I think very likely it will be Turkey," Solana told reporters in Brussels when asked about the venue of talks between Iran and the West.

The meeting arrangements come after Iran presented its new package of proposals to the six major powers -- Russia, China, Britain, France and the US plus Germany --, aimed at solving global issues.

Solana added that Western policy remained "twin track" -- to offer incentives to Iran in exchange for abandoning a military nuclear program.

Western countries, spearheaded by the US and Israel, accuse the Islamic Republic of pursuing a clandestine military nuclear program and have been pressuring Tehran to halt its enrichment activities.

Iran, however, denies the allegations and has called for the removal of weapons of mass destruction worldwide.

While Iran is already under three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions resolutions for its enrichment work, tougher sanctions are likely to be considered if talks fail.

However, Solana said the time was not ripe to talk about fresh sanctions. "At this point in time we are going to try to enter into negotiations," he said. "Let's talk about that."

Solana, who has been representing the West in long-running efforts to resolve disputes over Iran's nuclear case, refrained from giving an exact response when asked how much he thought the new talks could achieve.

"I always intend to try and achieve as much as possible in the negotiations. But it is not the first time we meet. We know each other well," he said.

He hailed the upcoming meeting as a step-change for US involvement and said, "There are some things that are new: the Americans will be present in a formalized manner; that is new, and I think that has to be evaluated positively by the Iranians."

The US State Department said Monday that Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns would attend the October meeting.

Burns will stick to the US stance over Iran's nuclear activities and will insist that "the clock is running down" for Iran to be responsive to Washington's concerns, according to the State Department.

The last meeting between Iran and the West took place in July 2008 in Geneva.

SF/MD