Germany's foreign minister told his Iranian counterpart on Friday that Tehran must stop its "blocking tactics" over its nuclear programme, Berlin said in a statement.
Guido Westerwelle "stressed the concerns of the German government and the international community over Iran's ongoing blocking tactics," the foreign ministry said after the talks with Manouchehr Mottaki on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week raised hopes of progress in the international stand-off over its nuclear activities by indicating that he might be ready to accept an offer to send some uranium abroad for enrichment.
Doing so would help soothe concerns that Iran wanted to arm itself with nuclear weapons, but Washington called on Tehran to make a concrete offer to the UN atomic agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Germany is one of six powers negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme, alongside the US, Britain, France, China and Russia, with the West fearing that Tehran wants to develop atomic weapons. Iran says its programme is to produce nuclear power.
China is resisting pressure from the other powers for more sanctions on Iran, with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi saying in Munich on Friday said Beijung still hopes a "mutually acceptable" solution could "somehow" be found.
"This issue has entered a crucial stage. The parties concerned should, with their overall long-term interests in mind, step up diplomatic efforts, stay patient and adopt a more flexible, pragmatic and proactive policy," he said.
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