World powers hope to resume negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear programme "as soon as possible", the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Tuesday.

Ashton, who oversees talks with Iran on behalf of the six powers, met senior diplomats from the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss the future of the negotiations.

The last round of nuclear talks, held in April in Kazakhstan, failed to yield a solution to the decade-old standoff, and diplomacy has been on hold since then because of a presidential election in Iran last month.

Ashton said the six powers were waiting for Tehran to nominate a team of negotiators after the election, won by Hassan Rouhani.

"We very much hope that will be soon and we look forward to meeting with them as soon as possible," she said in a statement.

The six powers suspect Iran is seeking the means to make atom bombs and have demanded it suspends its most sensitive nuclear work. Tehran denies any military intentions and says its work has purely peaceful purposes such as medical research and energy generation. – Reuters