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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
speaks at a joint news conference after talks with Georgia's President
Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi July 10, 2008. Rice reiterated on
Thursday that Iran will face more sanctions if it fails to give an
adequate response to the latest incentives package by the six major
powers. (Xinhua/Reuters file Photo)
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice reiterated on Thursday that Iran will face more sanctions if it
fails to give an adequate response to the latest incentives package by the six
major powers.
In an exclusive interview with Politico and Yahoo!
News, Rice said Iran's latest response to a demand for the enrichment freeze in
exchange for trade and technology incentives "is not a really serious answer."
"Iran has a way out if they ever wish, but we will
seriously pursue sanctions if they don't," the top diplomat said.
On July 19, European Union foreign policy chief
Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalali held nuclear talks
in Geneva over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. U.S. Undersecretary of State
William Burns attended the meeting.
Since that meeting, Iran has failed twice to give a
clear answer to the package of incentives proposed by six major countries -- the
United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, requiring the country
to suspend its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for political and economic
benefits.
The United States and its Western allies criticized
Iran for its evasive answer to the offers by the six major countries, and warned
that if no positive response is delivered by Tehran, there will be no choice but
to ask the United Nations to proceed with further sanctions.
The United States and its allies have accused Iran of
developing nuclear weapons, but Iran insists that its nuclear program is only
for peaceful purposes.
U.S. says new sanctions against Iran are under
consideration
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The United States and four
other permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany are considering
new sanctions against Iran after Tehran failed to give clear answer to an
incentives package by the six major powers, the State Department said Wednesday.
"We are very disappointed that Iran has failed yet again
to give ... a clear answer to the P5+1 generous incentives package. The letter
we received yesterday appears to be a stalling tactic," State Department
spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said.
German FM: Iran's response to nuclear offer
"insufficient"
BERLIN, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Germany on Wednesday rejected Iran's response to an
offer of negotiations over its nuclear program, saying the response is
"insufficient."
"The (German) government finds the response sent yesterday
(Tuesday) by Iran to the comprehensive offer ... insufficient," German Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement. Full story
U.S. sees Iran's response to incentive package as
'disappointing'
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran's response to an
incentive package offered by the United States and five other nations is
"disappointing," said Alejandro Wolff, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United
Nations, on Wednesday.
"This is a nonresponsive, disappointing response," said
Wolff, speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Security Council. Full story
U.S. officials: Iran's response to
int'l offer unacceptable
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. officials said on
Tuesday Iran's response to an incentives offer by world major powers to halt its
nuclear program is unacceptable.
The Associated Press quoted unidentified U.S.
government officials as saying that a brief one-page document Iran presented to
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana is a restatement of Tehran's
insistence on the right to conduct peaceful nuclear activities rather than a
definitive reply to the offer from major world powers to suspend uranium
enrichment and reprocessing in exchange for economic and other benefits. Full story
Report: Iran responses to 5+1
package
TEHRAN, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Ambassador to Brussels
Ali-Asghar Khaji on Tuesday handed in Tehran's written response to the 5+1
package of incentives to EU officials, the semi-official Fars News Agency
reported.
The report did not give further details about Iran's
reply, which has not yet been verified by Iranian official sources. Full story
