TEHRAN, June 11: Iran made clear on Sunday it wants changes in a Western incentives package aimed at making a breakthrough in the nuclear dispute, saying some parts are acceptable and some parts should be thrown out.
But it remained tight-lipped over specifics as conservatives and nationalists stepped up their pressure on the government to reject the deal outright.
Under pressure to give an answer soon, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi insisted Iran was not stalling over the package and would take “as long as is necessary” to study it. The package, presented to Iran last week, promises US and European nuclear help along with “other incentives” if Iran suspends its uranium enrichment programme.
“We started studying the package the moment it was presented to us,” Asefi told reporters. “There are points which are acceptable. There are points which are ambiguous. There are points that should be strengthened, and points that we believe should not exist.”
US President George W. Bush said on Friday that Iran will have weeks, not months to decide whether to accept the proposals or face the prospect of penalties.
Asefi insisted that “no deadline has been given. A deadline doesn’t exist.”
In Cairo, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said the package included “positive points and some complications and vague points as well.”
“There is something else said about conditions before discussions. We have already said that we welcome negotiations without preconditions,” he told reporters, without elaborating, after a day of talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other Egyptian officials.
The Big Five powers at the United Nations, plus Germany, presented the offer in hopes of winning a breakthrough to resume negotiations with Iran on reining in its nuclear ambitions. The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies, saying its programme seeks only to develop energy.
The West wants Iran to stop enrichment because it can produce either fuel for a reactor or the material needed for a warhead.
It included some “significant concessions” by the United States aimed at enticing Tehran to freeze enrichment. The US, along with Europe, would provide Iran with peaceful nuclear technology, lift some sanctions and join direct talks with Tehran.
The package also pulls back from demands that Iran outright scrap its enrichment programme as an initial condition for negotiations, seeking instead a suspension. However, it also contains the implicit threat of UN sanctions if Iran remains defiant.
Iran has not said what it found positive in the package, what it rejects and what it feels needs clarification — and the Western powers have not indicated how willing they are to haggle over the offer.
In his comments in Cairo, Larijani said it was “positive” that the package was not presented with the threat of sanctions. The EU envoy who presented the offer, Javier Solana, toned down those threats, though the United States has made it clear the potential for sanctions remains if Iran rejects.
Iran has consistently refused to give up enrichment, saying it has a right to the process for peaceful purposes, though it has signalled it might compromise on large-scale enrichment.
Even if it does agree to suspend it, it’s not clear for how long. It may want a specified period for negotiations, putting a time limit to get results from the talks. The Europeans and Americans are believed to want a long suspension, though it’s not known if the proposal specifies a time.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Saturday that Iran would present a counter offer. He did not provide details on Iran’s proposals or say when they might be presented.
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a top religious scholar, on Friday came out against the package, reflecting conservative pressure on the government to reject the offer.
Conservative newspapers on Sunday played the same tune.
“This package, like other Western proposals, contains blackmail and language of threats. The Iranian nation has proved that it has not given in to shouts and excessive wrong demands and is not prepared to give up its definite nuclear rights,” said the daily Jomhuri-i-Eslami.
The Kayhan newspaper said there was no reason Iran should play a game whose rules have been set by the US and its allies. “We can set different rules and a different field,” it said.
Parliamentary speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel said resuming talks doesn’t mean that Iran should accept the entire package.—AP
