Diplomats Push Iran to Reply Soon to Incentives Offer 
By Helene Cooper
June 30, 2006
The New York Times
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/30/world/middleeast/30diplo.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1151671032-gpCmHJJruSoXdmT3N5u8Tw

MOSCOW, June 29 — Diplomats from the world's richest countries said Thursday that they expected to receive a clear and substantive response from Iran by next Wednesday to the package of incentives offered by major powers in exchange for suspending its activities relating to enrichment of uranium.
The statement from the foreign ministers of the Group of 8 industrialized countries was the first reference to an explicit deadline for Iran to respond formally. We are disappointed in the absence of an official Iranian response to this positive proposal, their statement said. 
The statement said Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, who presented the proposals to Iran on June 6, would meet Wednesday, adding that the Group of 8 expects to bring these discussions to a rapid conclusion. 
It is unclear, however, whether Iran will meet the deadline. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his government will not respond until late August. 
After receiving Iran's response, foreign ministers from the major powers that made the nuclear offer — China, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and the United States — will meet July 12 at a as-yet-undecided European city, maybe Paris. They will consider whether the response can lead them toward an agreement or whether to proceed to seek economic sanctions against Iran, said a senior Bush administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to interfere with the diplomatic process. 
The leaders of the Group of 8 countries — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States — will meet in St. Petersburg on July 15. Thursday's statement was echoed by comments from China, the only one of the countries making the proposal to Iran not included in the Group of 8. Without mentioning a specific date, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing urged Iran to respond to the package of incentives as soon as possible, Reuters reported.
Group of 8 meetings are usually rather boring, ending with communiqués and news conferences in which all parties pretend they are all one big, happy family. Thursday's session, however, was different. 
Officials forgot to turn off the audio feed from the lunch meeting, so reporters were able to hear parts of the discussion, much of it bickering between the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, often over arcane points in the statement.
At one point, the two squabbled about Russia's desire to include wording about urgent methods to provide security for diplomats in the aftermath of the killing in Iraq of five Russian Embassy staff members. Ms. Rice balked, saying that the wording would made it look like urgent measures were not being taken to protect Iraqis and American soldiers.
It implies they are not being taken, and you know on a fairly daily basis we lose soldiers, and I think it would be offensive to suggest that these efforts are not being made, she said.
Mr. Lavrov replied that the sentence was not intended as criticism. I don't believe security is fine in Iraq and I don't believe in particular that security at foreign missions is O.K., he said. If you feel uncomfortable about it, maybe we should make it shorter.
Eventually they agreed that the text would simply condemn the killing of the Russians and add that this tragic event underlines the importance of improving security for all in Iraq.
No sooner was that compromise reached but Ms. Rice and Mr. Lavrov were at it again, this time over Mr. Lavrov's proposal that the statement include something about the need for the rest of the world to be more involved in the Iraqi political process. Ms. Rice immediately took exception to that. 
To say the international community is to be more involved in the political process seems to me rather odd, given that they have a democratic elective process, she said. 
I did not suggest this, Mr. Lavrov replied. What I did say was not involvement in the political process but the involvement of the international community in support of the political process.
What does that mean? Ms. Rice asked.
There was a long pause. Then, from Mr. Lavrov: I think you understand.
Ms. Rice: No, I don't.
The sparring continued after the lunch and into a news conference. Condoleezza Rice said that she first came to the Soviet Union in 1979 and she has noticed — seen a change in the country, Mr. Lavrov piped up, in answer to an unrelated question from a journalist. I also first visited the U.S.A. in 1979 and I have been taking note of changes, many of which we strive to discuss with our American counterparts.
Ms. Rice fumed for a few minutes while the discussion went on to other matters. The next time she was asked a question — about whether she thought Russia had resorted to energy blackmail against Europe, she detoured. Sergey, when did you go and where did you go in the United States in 1979 that you saw so much change? she asked. 
New York, Mr. Lavrov replied.
Oh, New York, Ms. Rice repeated, smirking. Now I understand.
Since Iran received the nuclear proposal, Iranian officials have continued to say that Iran will never give up its right to pursue nuclear enrichment, but they have also described the proposal as positive. 
What happens after the Iranians do respond remains unclear. Russia and China have resisted the idea of hauling Iran before the United Nations Security Council for sanctions, a position pushed by the United States and Britain, with France and Germany somewhere in between. 
In order to get Moscow on board, the United States agreed to not include mention of economic sanctions in the written part of the incentives package offered to Iran. 
Bush officials continue to express optimism that if Iran turns down the package, Russia will sign on to sanctions, but the Russians continue to send mixed signals.
Speaking to foreign diplomats on Tuesday, President Vladimir V. Putin said, I repeat once again that we have no intention of joining in any kinds of ultimatums that only drive the situation into a dead end and deal a blow to the U.N. Security Council's authority. 
At the meeting on Thursday, Russian officials pointedly put copies of the text of that speech on the table for journalists.