VIENNA -- Iran will sit down with the United States and five other world powers next month for wide-ranging discussions after more than a year without talks, Iranian and European officials said Monday.

The U.S., Iran and European Union expressed hope that the talks could lead to substantive negotiations.

But Iran also sounded a tough note -- accusing the U.S. 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 last week from the six powers 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 President Barack Obama's stated goals of global nuclear nonproliferation 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.''

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu confirmed the U.S. would be sending a representative to the meeting.

``This is an important first step,'' Chu told reporters in Vienna for the general conference of the 150-nation International Atomic Energy Agency.

Solana spokeswoman Cristina Gallach said representatives of Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany are also expected to be present.

The talks would be the first time the six countries meet with Iran since more than a year ago.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns would represent the U.S.

``The point of all this is to sit down with the Iranians and explain directly, face to face, the choice that they have,'' he said.

``We have an opportunity here to present a united front -- the five permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany -- to show that the international community wants them to abandon their any plans they have for a militarization of their nuclear program.''

Iran still formally refuses to discuss the issue. But the U.S. and its partners decided last week to agree to talks with Tehran in hope that broad negotiations would eventually grow to encompass enrichment and related topics.

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