TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran has always maintained that it is ready for talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (G5+1) based on mutual respect, the English language satellite Press TV reported on Monday.

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Ahmadinejad expressed hope that the future meetings will yield tangible results, said the report.

Tehran is willing to cooperate with the G5+1 on a variety of issues within a legal framework and dialogue is the only way to reach an understanding with the Islamic Republic, he said on Sunday.

Last Tuesday, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili welcomed talks with G5+1 based on common grounds and in a pressure- free atmosphere.

Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said last Wednesday that Iran's response to an EU letter of talks on Tehran's nuclear program "does not contain something new and does not justify another round of talks."