(LONDON) - Britain is to host six-power talks on Iran's nuclear stand-off with the West this week, a Foreign Office spokesman said Monday.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband will host the talks on Friday, the same day as a meeting of the international Middle East quartet.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend both meetings, the State Department has said.

The United Nations Security Council last month tightened sanctions on Iran for failing to heed repeated ultimatums to suspend uranium enrichment.

The council's five veto-wielding permanent members -- Britain, China, France, the United States and Russia -- plus Germany have pledged to expand a 2006 offer of economic incentives to Iran in return for a freeze on uranium enrichment.

But Iran last month ruled out further talks with the six saying that concerns about its nuclear programme should be dealt with exclusively by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Middle East Quartet comprises the United States, European Union, Russia and the UN.

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