TEHRAN: The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, which had made a package of incentives to Iran, are studying Iran's offer of more talks to resolve the issue of the country continuing with its uranium enrichment programs, according to sources. It is not clear whether Tehran's response is fair enough to avoid the sanctions threatened by the U.N.
Iran had responded Tuesday to the set of incentives from the six countries -- China, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and Switzerland (representing the U.S., which has no diplomatic ties with Iran) -- but did not give any assurance to suspend the enrichment of uranium by the end of the month, which is the main demand from the European countries and the U.S.
Iran is said to have offered "serious talks" over its nuclear activities but did not raise the issue of suspending enrichment by 31 August, the deadline set by the U.N. Security Council through a resolution.
According to a senior European official involved in the talks, Iran has not addressed the key point, that is, whether or not it is going to suspend the enrichment program. Details of the contents of Iran's response have not been published so far.
The European and U.S. diplomats are now analyzing the 21-page response and representatives of the U.S., Britain, France and Germany are expected to meet in New York today to discuss the issue and possibly evolve a response. The meeting, however, will not be attended by two key members of the Security Council, Russia and China, which have been suggesting reconciliation of the issue rather than a confrontation. Analysts pointed out both these countries could veto any resolution in the council mooting sanctions against Iran.
The Chinese foreign ministry said in Beijing China has always believed that seeking a peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic talks is the best choice (to solve the issue) and in the interests of all parties concerned. It hoped that the Iranian side would earnestly consider concerns of the international community and come up with necessary and constructive measures.
The ministry also said China hoped that other parties concerned will "remain calm and patient, show flexibility, stick to the orientation of peaceful resolution (of the issue) and create favorable conditions for resuming talks as soon as possible."
John R. Bolton, the U.S. representative at the U.N., had said Tuesday if Iran refuses to stop the program, the U.S. will introduce a resolution in the Security Council calling for immediate economic sanctions. He said Washington is prepared to move rapidly on this issue.
Earlier Iranian officials had come out saying the country is offering a “new formula” to resolve the crisis, but details were not divulged.
According to neutral diplomats, Iran is now in the process of readying for the sanctions, which may initially be rather mild. But once it covers essential items, which the country needs very badly, it can have devastating effect on the country's economy. For example, even though Iran is world's No 4 producer of crude, it depends on gasoline imports as it does not possess any refinery capacity.
