Special
report:Iran Nuclear
Crisis
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures as he speaks
to the people of Hamadan, 208 miles west of Tehran June 21, 2006.
Ahmadinejad said his country would formally respond to the six-nation
package aimed to resolve the nuclear dispute in mid-August.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) |
VIENNA, July 3 (Xinhua) -- If Iran still has no
response to the six-nation package proposal until July 12, the foreign ministers
of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States will meet to
discuss the next step to be taken on the Iranian nuclear issue, a diplomat in
Vienna said on Monday.
If Iran impresses on Javier Solana, the senior EU
envoy on diplomacy and security affairs, that it just wants to delay, on
Wednesday when Solana meets with top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani,
the foreign ministers of six nations will consult on the next step on Iran's
nuclear issue, reported the Austria Press Agency (APA) citing a diplomat in
Vienna.
In the same report, APA said that Western powers
consider July 12 as the deadline for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and
rebuild the negotiations with the European Union.
"Otherwise Iran may have to face the threat of
sanction from the UN Security Council," said the report.
Seyed Ali Hosseini-Tash, deputy secretary of Iran's
Supreme National Security Council, reiterated on Monday that Iran will not give
up its right to the peaceful use of nuclear power.
"The coming talks between Larijani and Solana aims to
discuss the six-nation package, and clarify the unclear contents," he said.
He stressed that Iran needs time to study the package
seriously, and that Solana as well as other sides should not expect a response
from Iran.
"We do not need to make response (to the package)",
he said.
Solana presented the six-nation package to Iran on
June 6, which includes incentive and punitive measures.
The foreign ministers of the Group of Eight issued a
declaration in Moscow on June 29, urging Iran to deliver an official response at
the coming meeting with Solana. But Iran said that it would have no response
before August. Enditem
Related Photos:
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei smiles during a
meeting in Tehran. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed
future talks with the United States on Tuesday, July 27, 2006, terming the
negotiation between the two sides as "useless". (Xinhua/AFP
Photo) |
