European nuclear proposal handed to Iran
A package of incentives, whose contents has not been made public, has been handed to Iran as it relates to the US and EU desire to see Iran stop making its own nuclear fuel, and developing skills in this area.
The package, expected to have been drawn by three European countries and the USA, and also with Russia and China reserving objection on the package, expected to be in line with their stated position that no threats of sanctions should be made.
The package details have not been revealed yet, but are expected to be made public, as the Iranian president said he will do in order to keep the Iranian public informed.
Iran is very suspicious of European motives, that have been publicaly hostile to Iran. The US, the major player on this issue has made no secret of its strong hostility to Iran.
The US and the three EU countries' policies, using a range of threats from implicit military action to diplomatic and economic sanctions, have failed to force Iran to retreat from its position, where Iran insists on rights to make its own nuclear fuel and taking full advantage of rights it has under the Nuclear Non Proliferation treaty which it is a member of.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrived in Iran yesterday evening and said upon his arrival that he hoped the package could trigger a "new relationship" based on trust and confidence.
The White House spokesman Tony Snow said today " if the Iranians agree to suspend enrichment related and reprocessing activities, then we'll be able to discuss more openly what the incentives are, and we certainly hope that that's the case."
Speaking a day before the EU proposal was handed by the Solona to Iran, Mottaki expressed confidence the issue would be resolved in a positive way, and added that Iran will declare its views on Europe's new proposal in accordance with the principle of equal rights and obligations guaranteed under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Solana met today with Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani to hand over the EU package. Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said today after an hour of talks with Solana that Solana's current visit to Tehran is "important" and said he would expect Iran to carefully review Europe's latest offer.
