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Iran again rejects nuclear deadline
Tehran (AFP) July 31, 2008 Iran on Thursday rejected any deadline to give its final response to a package drawn up by world powers seeking to end the nuclear crisis, and said there should be more negotiations to reach a deal. "The language of deadline-setting is not understandable to us. We gave them our response within a month as we said we would, now they have to reply to us," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said, according to the state news agency IRNA. Mottaki said Iran and the major powers had agreed at a July 19 meeting in Geneva to find common ground on both sides' proposals aimed at resolving the standoff over Tehran's nuclear drive, and denied any ultimatum was set. "Both sides said that in future meetings they should work on the communalities of both frameworks in a constructive way to reach an agreement that satisfies both sides, otherwise Iran's constructive activities will take their natural course," he was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency. Meanwhile the United States held back on Thursday from insisting on a strict deadline for Iran to give a final answer to the incentives package. "I didn't count the days. It's coming up soon," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters when asked if Saturday was the deadline for Iran to accept or reject the offer. He also said there is "no indication of that" when asked whether Washington would pull the incentives offer off the table. On Wednesday McCormack warned of the consequences of any Iranian defiance, referring to the US threat of more UN and bilateral sanctions. Iran on July 4 handed major powers what it said was its "constructive and creative" response to their offer presented by EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana in June aimed at persuading Tehran to halt sensitive nuclear work. The package, drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, offers Tehran technology and negotiations if it suspends uranium enrichment which the West fears could be used to make atomic weapons. Enrichment is a process which makes nuclear fuel but can also create the fissile core of an atomic bomb. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili held further talks with Solana on July 19, at a meeting that was also attended by a top US diplomat in a major policy shift by Washington on the nuclear issue. Solana said then that he expected an answer in a fortnight, but Tehran has since said there was no ultimatum or a deadline, just an agreement that it would examine the proposal during the two weeks. "Perhaps based on incorrect analysis, some of the Geneva participants got the wrong expectation, but our job was to give our views to the 5+1 framework... then we gave our own framework," Mottaki said. Last Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran had boosted the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges to up to 6,000, despite calls for a freeze. Iran, a leading member of OPEC, has already been slapped with three sets of Security Council sanctions for refusing to halt enrichment. It insists it has the right to nuclear technology as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and denies wanting atomic weapons, saying it needs to produce electricity for its growing population. On Wednesday, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on major issues, said Iran would not retreat on the nuclear issue. Tehran has won support for its stance from foreign ministers of the 118-member Non-Aligned Movement meeting there this week. "The ministers once again emphasised that Islamic republic of Iran's decision to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and its policies on the fuel cycle should be respected," a statement said. "We hope the United States grasps the clear message sent by the 118 members of NAM regarding Iran's nuclear programme," Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency. Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
US holds back from imposing strict nuclear deadline on Iran
Washington (AFP) July 31, 2008The United States held back Thursday from insisting on a strict deadline for Iran to give world powers a final answer to their incentives package to defuse a showdown over Tehran's nuclear program. |
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