Iran Rejects Demand to Respond to Nuclear Package by July 5
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Iran’s foreign minister on Thursday rejected demands from the seven major industrialized nations to respond by July 5 to an international offer for Tehran to roll back its uranium enrichment program, saying it would need until August.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran had questions about the proposal that needed to be settled in talks expected early next month with Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is seriously and carefully reviewing the proposed package,” he said. “I’ve said that such response will be in August.”
Mottaki’s remarks contradicted his own statements to the Germany weekly magazine Stern, which quoted him as saying his country may respond before the Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, which starts July 15.
Earlier Thursday, the United States, Russia and other industrial democracies said they expect Iran to reply next week to the offer. The package seeks to persuade Tehran to impose a long-term moratorium on uranium enrichment, a process that can produce material for nuclear generators or bombs.
In return, it offers incentives including peaceful Western nuclear technology, the lifting of some sanctions, trade opportunities, U.S. spare parts for Iran’s aging fleet of jetliners, and U.S. participation in negotiations with Tehran.
On Wednesday, a U.N. official had said that Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, would meet Solana on July 5 to discuss the package of incentives.
Mottaki didn’t give a date for the talks but confirmed that such a meeting would indeed take place.
The Larijani-Solana meeting would be the first since the EU official presented the incentive package to the Iranian negotiator in Tehran on June 6.
Mottaki’s remarks echoed comments made by Larijani, who had said the proposals contained “positive steps” but talks were needed to clear up ambiguities.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also said the government will not respond officially until at least mid-August. Europe is pressing for a much quicker reply and U.S. Ambassador John Bolton had said the United States wanted a response before Thursday’s Group of Eight ministerial meeting in Moscow.
