Friday, 16 June 2006Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has welcomed a package of incentives offered to resolve the dispute over its nuclear programme as "a step forward".
He said he had instructed his colleagues to consider the offer by the US, Europe, Russia and China carefully.
The package is thought to include trade and security guarantees, if Iran suspends uranium enrichment.
In his first response to the offer, the president also insisted: "We are not seeking to develop nuclear weapons."
The West has demanded that Iran stop enriching uranium - a process it fears may be used in a weapons programme.
Iran says its programme is solely for the production of energy, and that enrichment is its right.
On Thursday Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country would not bow to Western pressure over its nuclear programme, Iranian state media said.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not succumb to these pressures and it considers the continuation [of its nuclear programme] a main objective," he was quoted as saying.
Iran has been offered a supply of enriched uranium from Russia, as part of a range of incentives and penalties presented last week by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - and Germany.
They are also thought to include offers of assistance to Iran in building a light-water nuclear reactor for civilian use, plus financial incentives.
The US also recently changed its long-standing opposition to direct talks and said it would join negotiations with Iran if it suspends enrichment.
Diplomats have said the package leaves open the possibility that Iran might be allowed to enrich in the future, if it satisfies international standards.
Mr Ahmadinejad said Iran would formally respond to the offer "in due time".
'Extra time'
The US and European powers are expected to press for UN sanctions against Iran if it turns down the incentive package.
"Sanctions should not be used as a leverage or pressure against the countries of the world," Mr Ahmadinejad said, during a visit to China as an observer at a regional summit.
He has held talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and China's President Hu Jintao on the issue. Both countries have so far said they are opposed to sanctions.
"Our views and positions on many issues are close or even identical," the Iranian president said.
A Chinese spokesman said the Iranians were taking the offer "seriously, and... might need some extra time".
Last week US President George W Bush said Iran had "weeks, not months" to give its formal response.
BBC News
June 16, 2006 |
Friday, 16 June 2006
Iran
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