Negotiations between Iran and Western powers on Tehran's controversial nuclear drive will resume next week in Geneva, more than a year after they ground to a halt with sanctions having multiplied.

After months of cat-and-mouse offers and counter-bids, the talks will finally restart in Switzerland, on December 6 and 7, the office of the European Union's chief diplomat Catherine Ashton announced.

Iran chief negotiator Said Jalili will meet with Ashton, who will lead the international delegation, a spokesman said, in the same city where the last talks on the issue fell apart in October 2009, AFP reported.