Russia, China back Iran's calls for negotiations to end nuclear standoff

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran urged Europe on Wednesday to pay attention to what it called positive signals in its counterproposal to a nuclear incentives package aimed at persuading Tehran to roll back its nuclear program. Russia and China backed Iran's call for negotiations to end the standoff. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said "the door is still open" for negotiations but only if Iran suspends uranium enrichment first, a step Tehran appears reluctant to agree to.

Diplomats from Europe, the U.S., Russia and China were studying the details of Iran's offer a day after Tehran presented it Tuesday without any detailed public comment.

The initial comments made clear the United States was likely to face difficulty getting at least two of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia and China - to agree to tough sanctions against Iran.

Iran said Tuesday it was ready for serious negotiations on its nuclear program and cast its counterproposal as a new formula to resolve the crisis. The Iranian offer appeared aimed at enticing European countries and China and Russia into further negotiations by offering a broad set of proposals vague enough to hold out the hope of progress.

In Washington, the Bush administration is taking its time responding to Iran's mixed message of offering negotiations while resisting suspension of uranium enrichment.

President George W. Bush, at his weekly meeting at the White House with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, discussed Tehran's response to a joint offer by the United States and the European Union for concessions in exchange for a suspension.

They made no statement afterward. Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, said the Iranian response was getting careful consideration and review "as it deserves."

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said Washington was prepared to move forward with sanctions against Tehran if the response was not positive.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said the document was "extensive" and required "a detailed and careful analysis."

Iran delivered the written proposal in response to a package of incentives offered in June by the five permanent Security Council members - Britain, the U.S., France, China and Russia - as well as Germany, to persuade Iran to halt enrichment, and the threat of punishments if it does not.

Last month, the Security Council set the Aug. 31 deadline for Iran to halt enrichment or face economic and political sanctions. Iran called the resolution "illegal" but had said it was willing to offer a "multi-faceted response."

The year-long standoff over Tehran's nuclear program revolves around Iran's insistence that it wants to master the technology simply to generate civilian nuclear power. But critics say Iran is interested in enrichment because it wants to make nuclear weapons.

The current drama is playing out amid fears that the ability of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon to withstand 34 days of Israeli bombardment has emboldened hardliners in Tehran to risk a showdown with the Americans.

There has also been speculation in the West that Iran encouraged Hezbollah to provoke the Israelis to distract attention from its nuclear ambitions.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, refused to disclose Tuesday whether the response included an offer to suspend enrichment. But the semi-official Fars news agency reported that Iran had rejected calls to suspend "nuclear activities" - or uranium enrichment - and "instead has offered a new formula to resolve the issues through dialogue."

Iranian officials familiar with Larijani's response said Tehran also had included a list of questions in its counterproposal, although they would not give details. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Iranians have signalled strongly for weeks that they were not prepared to abandon enrichment as a precondition to talks. Last month, a senior Iranian legislator said parliament was preparing to debate withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to force Tehran to suspend enrichment.

In February, Iran for the first time produced its first batch of low-enriched uranium, using a cascade of 164 centrifuges. In recent weeks, Iran has prevented UN nuclear agency inspectors from inspecting an underground site meant to shelter its enrichment program from attack, diplomats said Monday.

The incentives package has not been made public but some details have leaked. They include an offer to lift a ban on sales of Boeing passenger aircraft as well as providing Iran with some nuclear technology to build reactors for peaceful purposes.

© The Canadian Press, 2006