BRUSSELS, May 15: The European Union is preparing to make a “bold” offer to Iran, including possible security guarantees, to persuade Tehran to curb its atomic plans, the bloc’s foreign policy chief claimed on Monday. Javier Solana made the comment ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers including the so-called EU-3 — Britain, France and Germany — tasked with trying to defuse the West’s diplomatic standoff with the Islamic Republic.

“It will be a generous package, a bold package, that will contain issues relating to nuclear, economic matters, and maybe, if necessary, security matters,” Solana said.

“We are preparing a package (so) that it will be difficult for them to say no if what they really want is energy,” he said. The West fears that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon behind the screen of a civilian atomic energy programme. Tehran says it only wants to generate energy.

Iran is a signatory to nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty under which it is entitled to peaceful use and research of nuclear technology.

The United States is seeking sanctions from the UN Security Council but it has failed to win support for the move and has given its European allies a couple of weeks to draft a fresh approach.

The EU, whose package must also satisfy Russia and China, has until May 19 — when negotiators from the Security Council’s five permanent members plus Germany meet in London — to complete its work.

Solana played down comments by Iran’s President, Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, rejecting any new European Union offer that might demand that the Islamic Republic halt uranium enrichment activities.

“Any offer which requires us to halt our peaceful nuclear activities will be invalid,” Mr Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Sunday by the state news agency IRNA.

“I am surprised that a group of people holds meetings without us being present there and makes decisions for us,” he said.

Mr Solana pointed out that the Iranians had yet to see the Union’s offer.—AFP