Iran: Too early to say if progress made in nuclear talks

GENEVA (Reuters) - It is too early to say whether Iran and six world powers made progress on Tuesday towards resolving the decade-long standoff over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Reuters. "It's too soon to judge," Araqchi said after the first day of resumed negotiations between Tehran and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany. He was responding to a question about whether Iran and the six powers were any closer to resolving the nuclear dispute after the first day of the two-day talks. "They went well," Araqchi added. "We had very constructive, very good exchange of views, very serious. It was, I can say, very businesslike." European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton declined to say how she viewed Tuesday's negotiations upon returning to her Geneva hotel - the same one the Iranian and American delegations are staying at. Iran said it presented a proposal in talks with six world powers on Tuesday capable of achieving a breakthrough in a decade-old standoff over its contested nuclear program that has raised the risk of a new Middle East war. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Jon Boyle)