EU Solana regrets Iran's 'wrong decision' on new uranium plants

(BRUSSELS) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, negotiator for the major power on the Iran nuclear issue, said Monday he regretted Tehran's "wrong decision" to build more uranium enrichment plants.

"I think this is the wrong decision," Solana told reporters in Brussels, during his last day in office.

"I lament that they have taken this decision. I still hope there will be a possibility to change their mind."

A defiant Iranian government led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed on Sunday to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants and also to study a plan to process the material to 20 percent purity, state media reported.

The hardline stance is seen as hitting out at world powers led by Washington.

Iran is already under three sets of UN sanctions for defiantly enriching uranium -- the most controversial aspect of its nuclear programme -- at the Natanz facility.

Tehran further infuriated world powers in September when it disclosed it is building a second enrichment plant near the Shiite holy city of Qom.

World powers object to Tehran's uranium enrichment work, despite Tehran's assurances that its nuclear programme is only for civil purposes.

Solana steps down on Tuesday when British peer Catherine Ashton assumes an expanded EU foreign policy post under the EU's reforming Lisbon Treaty.