Russian and Iranian technicians work inside the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, in southern Iran, February 2006. Iran has said that it was still counting on support from Russia and China over its disputed nuclear programme, and warned the referral of the issue back to the UN Security Council would derail any possible negotiations.
AP: Iran calls Western incentives acceptable
Iran said Sunday that Western incentives to halt its nuclear program were an “acceptable basis” for talks, and it is ready for detailed negotiations.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice responded that Iran should talk directly to negotiators if it wants to discuss the six-nation proposal.
Frustrated world powers agreed Wednesday to send Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible punishment, saying Tehran had given no sign it would bargain in earnest over its nuclear ambitions.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters in Tehran that, “We consider this package an appropriate basis, an acceptable basis (for talks).”
“Now is an appropriate opportunity for Iran and Europe to enter detailed negotiations,” he said. “Sending the dossier to the U.N. Security Council means blocking and rejecting talks.”
Asefi called on the eight major world powers meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, to choose dialogue with Iran.
“We can achieve acceptable results in this path,” Asefi said.
Rice said at the Group of Eight meeting that Iran should contact European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, the envoy who delivered the proposal last month and has been meeting with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.
G-8 leaders were expected to discuss Iran’s nuclear program at the summit but none directly addressed Asefi’s comments.
“If the Iranians want to respond positively, I would hope that they would do so through the channel that is established between the six and the government of Iran, and that is Mr. Solana,” Rice said. “There is, indeed, a very good proposal on the table that could be a basis for negotiations … There is also a path ahead to the Security Council on which we are now launched.”
Iran is playing with the Western media cycle again and the G-8 summit.
Condoleezza Rice is correct and Iran should contact Javier Solana and discuss a formal acceptance of the P-5-Plus-1 proposal and the ensuing negotiations.
If Iran means they wish to discuss talks about talks, then referral to the United Nations Security Council should proceed.
U.S. President George W. Bush, right foreground, and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, center foreground, attend a first negotiating session at the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday July 16, 2006. The Lebanon crisis and the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea looked set to dominate talks Sunday between the Group of Eight leaders who gathered for their annual summit on the world’s most pressing challenges.
Captain Ed says Iran Blinks.
It’s time for them to negotiate and get the best deal they can. It looks like they may have stopped believing their own press releases and recognized it.
Flap doesn’t think so. There is more to come and this announcement was playing with the Western media cycle. Iran’s position is and has been clear. No halt to uranium enrichment – period.
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Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Will NOT Respond Tuesday to P-5-Plus- 1 Proposal
The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
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