Iran 'will study' EU proposals on nuclear issue

By Gareth Smyth and Daniel Dombey
June 7, 2006
The Financial Times
Original Source: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/fc92654a-f5c1-11da-bcae-0000779e2340.html

 
Iran said yesterday it would study a package of incentives delivered by Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, designed to entice Tehran to curb its nuclear programme.
The proposals contain positive steps and also some ambiguities, which must be removed, said Ali Larijani, Iran's top security official, after a two-hour meeting with Mr Solana.
We hope we will have negotiations and deliberations again after we have carefully studied the proposals to reach a balanced and logical result.
Mr Solana described yesterday's meetings with Mr Larijani as very, very constructive and said he hoped for negotiations based on trust, respect and confidence.
While Iran insists its programme is purely peaceful, the US and the EU suspect Tehran is seeking to acquire a nuclear weapons capacity.
Last week, the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany agreed the package, which focuses on a call for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, the most sensitive part of its nuclear programme.
For many in Tehran, this remains unacceptable. Hussein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the state-owned Kayhan newspaper, told Fars news agency that the main point of the package ran against Iran's national interest.
We have already officially and clearly announced we would no way stop uranium enrichment, he said.
The package has not been publicly revealed but includes trade concessions, help in building nuclear reactors and a guaranteed supply of fuel. The US, which said last week it would join multilateral talks if Iran stopped enrichment, has reportedly revived last year's offer to lift a ban on the sale of spare parts for Iran's ageing civilian aircraft.
Western diplomats emphasise that Iran faces the prospect of disincentives, should it decide not to suspend enrichment, which can produce weapons-grade material.
Ideas the EU and the US have worked on include travel bans for Iranian officials linked to the country's nuclear programme and restrictions on Iranian financial institutions' activities in Europe.
EU officials also highlighted the contrast with the previous time the EU put forward an offer to Iran - in July and August last year.
On that occasion, Tehran immediately rejected the proposed deal as inadequate and moved ahead with its programme. This time, the Europeans hope that the proposal will lead to negotiations rather than to another deadlock.
However, while Russia and China have endorsed the package, they are reluctant to back US and European talk of UN sanctions should Iran not suspend uranium enrichment.
A Chinese official yesterday defended the decision to invite Iran to Beijing as an observer to the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, which includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The continuing tension between Washington and Iran, which have had no formal diplomatic relations since the 1979 Iran Islamic Revolution, were highlighted when Sam Bodman, the US energy secretary, said yesterday the world economy could handle any cut-off in Iranian oil exports for a while.