Iran will sit down with the United States and five other world powers in October for wide-ranging discussions after more than a year without talks, Iranian and European officials said Sept. 14.

All parties expressed hope that the talks could lead to substantive negotiations.

But Iran also sounded a tough note — accusing the United States of amassing "frightening and dreadful weaponry in ... the Persian Gulf," and warning Israel and the United States that it is ready to defend itself against any attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The EU's chief diplomat, Javier Solana, announced Iran's readiness to follow up an offer from the six powers — the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany — for a new round of talks. Solana said the meeting scheduled for Oct. 1 could set the stage for progress in resolving the standoff over the Islamic republic's refusal to freeze uranium enrichment and heed other U.N. Security Council demands.

Iranian nuclear chief Ali Akhbar Salehi, who issued the warning over military action, was more moderate in later comments, telling reporters that Iran is "open to discussion" on nuclear rights and obligations in a general context, even though it would not bargain over enrichment, which he called "our sovereign right."

In an allusion to U.S. President Barack Obama's stated goals of global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, and offer to negotiate with Iran without conditions, Salehi said that if those aspirations "are translated into deeds then the environment will be conductive to future dialogue."