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) |
BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Union(EU)
is to tell Iran Wednesday that time is running out for its response to a
major powers' package of incentives aimed at breaking the deadlock over its
nuclear program, according to diplomatic sources.
Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Motaki speaks to the media on June 29, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
|
But
Tehran will say it must have more time.
Western countries have threaten possible UN
Security Council sanctions unless Iran suspends uranium enrichment and agrees to
talks on its nuclear program by July 12.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will tell top
Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani that Iran must accept the terms of
the package by July 12, when foreign ministers of the five permanent Security
Council members and Germany consult in Paris.
The six major powers offered on June 6 a
state-of-the-art nuclear reactor with a guaranteed fuel supply, economic
benefits and support for the idea of a regional security framework if Iran
halted uranium enrichment
Iran said it sees ambiguities in the offer
by major powers, adding it will take time to carefully study the offer
before giving its reply before Aug. 22.
"Allocating two months to respond to the proposed
package is not a long time," the Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying as Iranian officials traveled to meet EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
"The date of Iran's response is not changeable," he
said.
Uranium enrichment is a process that can produce fuel
for nuclear power plants or material for atomic bombs. Tehran insists its
program is for peaceful purposes only. Enditem
(Agencies)
