VIENNA, Sept 10: Iran is ready to comply, at least temporarily, with the United Nations Security Council demand that it freeze uranium enrichment, diplomats claimed here on Sunday.
The diplomats said the compromise had been mentioned by Tehran’s chief negotiator on nuclear issues Ali Larijani in talks with top European Union foreign policy official Javier Solana on Sunday.
Mr Larijani floated the possibility of Iran stopping its enrichment activities “voluntarily, for one or two months, if presented ... in such a way that it does it without pressure,” a diplomat said.
The diplomats did not say when such a contemplated move was planned.
Earlier, both Mr Larijani and Mr Solana spoke of progress and agreed to meet again later this week.
Mr Solana said “the meeting was worth it,” while Mr Larijani told reporters that “many of the misunderstandings were removed.”
“We have reached a common point of view on a number of issues,” the Iranian negotiator said. Mr Solana told reporters the talks “had cleared up some of the misunderstanding that existed” over Iran’s response to the offer of benefits from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US. “We are going to meet again next week.”
European officials had suggested earlier that at least some of the six nations were ready to listen if Iran committed itself to an enrichment freeze soon after the start of negotiations instead of before talks.—AP/AFP
