Special Report:
Iran Nuclear
Crisis
TEHRAN, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister
Manouchehr Mottaki said Sunday that his country would present its response to a
six-nation nuclear proposal from Aug. 15 to 22.
Mottaki gave the timing to a news conference at the
end of a two-day regional ministerial conference on Iraq.
He said that there are still some questions and
ambiguities in the proposal, on which EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was
not able to give answers.
Referring to upcoming talks between Iran's top
nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and Solana, the top Iranian diplomat stressed
that the talks should be comprehensive and attended by all the relevant parties
involved in the issue.
On June 6, Solana offered Iran a six-nation incentive
package concerning the Iranian nuclear issue, which had been agreed by the five
permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
The United States has accused Iran of secretly
developing nuclear weapons under a civilian front, but Iran has said its nuclear
program is for peaceful purpose. Enditem
Related: France confirms July 12 FMs meeting in Paris over
Iran
PARIS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- France confirmed on Friday
that a foreign ministers meeting of the U.N. Security Council's five permanent
members and Germany would be held on July 12 in Paris over Iran's nuclear issue.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will also
attend the meeting, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said.
He said the meeting "will allow the ministers to
state their positions" over the result of the process surrounding the proposals
offered on June 6 to Iran in exchange for it suspending uranium enrichment
activities.
Solana, who met Iran's National Security Council
Secretary Ali larijani in Brussels on Thursday, said their meeting had been a
"good start" and had been held in a "positive and constructive atmosphere,"
according to the French spokesman, although Tehran had failed to give a firm
reply to the international offer.
Solana and Larijani will come together again next
Tuesday in Brussels, on the eve of the Paris gathering, in an enlarged meeting
with foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain and Russia, Mattei said.
The spokesman said he hoped Iran could bring an
answer to the international offer before the G8 (Group of eight most
industrialized countries) summit, slated for July 15 in St Petersburg, Russia.
Enditem
Iran remains mum on int'l
nuclear proposals
BRUSSELS, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran's chief nuclear
negotiator Ali Larijani kept mum on Thursday on the international proposals on
the Iranian nuclear issue.
He would not say whether Tehran would respond soon to
the proposals drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council
-- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.
The United States and the European Union (EU) were
pressing for a reply by July 15 when a summit of the Group of Eight most
industrialized countries takes place in St. Petersburg, Russia. But Tehran has
said it would not respond until August 22.
Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National
Security Council, met EU foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana on
Thursday night.
"We are serious about continuing negotiations and
will start next Tuesday our talks," he told reporters upon arrival at the
meeting in Brussels.
Asked whether he had brought with him an initial
answer to the proposals, he simply said through an interpreter: "We will talk
about it on Tuesday."
Tehran and the EU will start detailed talks on
Tuesday in Paris, which are expected to be followed by consultations of the
foreign ministers of the six countries which have drawn up the package. The
Iranians are not expected to participate in the consultations on Wednesday.
The package was designed to lure Iran to a suspension
of uranium enrichment, a crucial step in the nuclear fuel cycle to make atomic
bombs, in return for political and economic incentives and nuclear technological
assistance.
But Tehran has insisted no precondition shall be
attached to the negotiations.
Iran resumed uranium enrichment-related activities in
January. As a result, the EU suspended talks and sought to bring the issue
before the UN Security Council.
Larijani postponed his trip to Brussels by one day,
reportedly to protest the visit of an Iranian exile group leader to the European
Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
Solana, who traveled to Tehran to present the package
on June 6, said Wednesday that he was surprised at the delay.
The United States accuses Iran of a secret program to
produce nuclear weapons. Iran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful
purposes only. Enditem
