"In the meeting, we have discussed a wide range of important issues together ... consultations must be made by both sides. And there will be contact together in order to see how to proceed," said Larijani through an interpreter.

Solana, on his part, said he had a "long meeting" with Larijani, adding that he will meet on Wednesday representatives of the six countries which have crafted a package for Iran -- Britain, France, Germany, plus the United States, Russia and China.

"We will make (an) analysis ... and we will see how to proceed," said Solana.

He also said he will be in contact with Larijani.

The comments by the two men indicated no breakthrough in the talks.

They refused to answer any questions.

The EU and the United States were pressing for an Iranian reply to the international nuclear package by Saturday when a summit of the Group of Eight most industrialized countries takes place in St. Petersburg, Russia. But authorities in Tehran have said it would not respond until August.

The package was designed to lure Iran to a suspension of uranium enrichment, a crucial step in the nuclear fuel cycle to make atomic bombs, in return for political and economic incentives and nuclear technological assistance.

But Tehran has insisted no precondition shall be attached to the negotiations.

Iran resumed uranium enrichment-related activities in January. As a result, the EU suspended talks and sought to bring the issue before the UN Security Council.

The United States accuses Iran of having a secret program to produce nuclear weapons. But Iran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Frenchman Stéphane L'Herbier, 32, and German national Donald Klein, 52, were sentenced to 18 months in jail in January by a court in Bandar Abbas in southern Iran where they were initially imprisoned.

Their sentence was upheld by an appeals court in mid-March and they were transferred to Tehran's Evin prison.

The two were arrested at the end of November near the island of Abu Mussa, which is Iranian territory but is claimed by the United Arab Emirates. The two men claimed they had mistakenly used Emirati maps that did not show the current maritime boundaries.

Cheney, in a May speech in the ex-Soviet republic of Lithuania, accused Russia of cracking down on religious and political rights and of using its energy reserves as "tools of intimidation or blackmail."

Asked about Cheney's remarks, Putin said, "I think the statements of your vice president of this sort are the same as an unsuccessful hunting shot."

Both Cheney's criticism and Putin's caustic response underline the tensions that exist between the United States and Russia as both countries prepare for the Group of Eight summit, beginning Saturday in St. Petersburg.

Western leaders are expected to raise concerns at the summit about Russian moves that are seen as antidemocratic, including a new law placing restrictions on non-governmental organizations, tightening state control of news media, and making the upper chamber of parliament an appointed body instead of an elected one.

Russia, in setting the agenda for the G-8 summit, has made energy security one of the top issues. However, Russia this year unsettled Europe when a dispute with Ukraine over natural gas prices resulted in a temporary reduction of Russian natural gas deliveries to Europe. Most of Russia's Europe-bound gas goes through Ukraine.

Despite his sharp comments on Cheney's statement, Putin said Russia welcomed criticism.

"I am glad that we have critics. It would be worse if there were one voice, as it was in the time of the Soviet Union at meetings of the Communist Party. If we hear both critical and positive observations, it means that we have the possibility of better orienting ourselves toward what we're doing," Putin said.

In a separate interview with Canadian broadcaster CTV, Putin said that Western officials' attendance at a pre-summit conference organized by opposition forces amounted to interference in Russia's internal affairs.

The opposition "is doing this (conference) in the run-up to State Duma elections at the end of 2007. And if officials of other countries support this undertaking, it simply means they are trying to influence the internal political arrangement of Russia a little bit," he said, according to a Kremlin transcript.

Opposition movements and civic groups participating in the "Other Russia" meeting appealed to G-8 leaders Wednesday to pressure Putin to end what they called systematic political repression. Participants said numerous activists had been forcibly prevented from attending the conference _ as well as beaten, detained and otherwise abused.

Participants stepped up their criticism of the Kremlin at the conference, which is intended to counter the image of a democratic Russia that Russian officials will be presenting at the G-8 summit.

"In Russia today, there are two sides, two countries. One is a country of bureaucracy, the disregard of law, a country of lawlessness, of backwardness and non-freedom. The authorities are on that side and they are terrorizing the other country, the country of citizens," said Andrei Illarionov, Putin's former economic adviser.

Western officials, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, also attended the forum. Edward McMillan-Scott, a European Parliament member from Britain, said Russia represented "a threat to Europe's stability and security."

"It is a country led by a regime that is selfish, corrupt and which is unreliable," he told the forum.

The G-8 summit starts Saturday when the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States gather for a glittering dinner in St. Petersburg, the former czarist capital founded 300 years ago by Peter the Great.

In the more than three decades that the world's major countries have staged these get-togethers, foreign policy crises often have intervened to take time away from the economic issues, and this year is no exception.

A search for ways to deal with North Korea's test firing of missiles and Iran's nuclear program are expected to take up much of the discussion time.

Russian support is seen as critical in defusing both situations, and for that reason President Bush and the other leaders are expected to soften any criticism of Putin's backsliding on democratic reforms.

Islamic separatists fighting for an independent Kashmir state have attacked Indian targets for the past 14 years. India has accused neighbouring Pakistan of supporting Kashmiri militants, a charge Islamabad denies.

No one has claimed responsibility for Tuesday morning's attacks in Srinagar.

Police officials say the first grenade attack of the day took place around noon local time. Militants are said to have thrown a grenade into a minibus carrying Indian tourists. One man and four women died in the blast and two others later succumbed to their injuries. Another 12 people were wounded in the attack.

Grenades target taxi, shopping area, neighbourhood

About an hour later, the city was rocked by three more grenade attacks, with a taxi, a shopping area and residential neighbourhood as the targets.

Later in the day, an assailant threw a grenade at a tourist pavilion. Authorities were able to apprehend the alleged assailant, police said.

A politician and four civilians were killed Saturday when suspected militants tossed a grenade at people emerging from a Muslim shrine. At least 45 others were injured in the attack.

Authorities say the number of attacks has risen more than 20 per cent in the first five months of 2006 as compared to the same period in 2005.

"These dastardly acts were perpetrated by the enemies of humanity," said Lashkar spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi in a statement.

"Indian security forces blame Lashkar in an attempt to defame the Kashmir freedom struggle," he said, repeating a charge the militants regularly make when they are accused of carrying out attacks against Indian civilians.

"We do not believe in killing innocent civilians," Ghaznavi said.

The Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen group also condemned the blasts and said in a statement that "Mujahedeen cannot be involved in such heinous crimes."

Commuters return to train platforms

CBC correspondent Michael McAuliffe said commuters on subway platforms were "defiant" in their attitude to not be intimidated and carry on with their lives. More than 6 million people depend on Mumbai's commuter system.

A series of eight bombs hit the western rail line in the city after between 6 and 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday, ripping train carriages apart.

Indian authorities said Wednesday they were aware Mumbai could be targeted by terrorists.

"We had an idea since some months that Mumbai was a target," said P.S. Pasricha, the director general of police for Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located. "Since it is the financial capital, there are many vulnerable areas in the city. Targets are well-known."

Pasricha also revised earlier death toll figures, saying that 183 people had been killed by the blasts and 714 injured.

The Times of India reported Wednesday that Indian intelligence officials believe Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, were responsible for the blasts. Both groups were blamed for a series of Mumbai bombings in 2003.