Incentive package for Iran to be discussed tomorrow

Washington, May 31 : The United States has said that world powers are making progress on a package of incentives for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment and other nuclear activities, and a plan for penalties if it does not.

According to the State Department, Foreign Ministers of the five permanent UN Security Council member countries and Germany will be meeting in Vienna tomorrow to try to finalise the package.

The idea is to present Iran with the choice of trade and technological incentives for ending uranium enrichment, or punitive measures starting with a critical UN Security Council resolution and leading to sanctions.

The effort to evolve this ''carrots-and-sticks'' policy towards Iran has been slowed by differences among the major powers, with Russia and China resisting any early move to impose sanctions on Tehran.

However, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters that the differences are being narrowed down, and that chances for concluding an agreement at tomorrow's Vienna ministerial meeting are ''pretty good''.

Mr McCormack reiterated that a binding Security Council resolution under Chapter Seven of the UN charter demanding that Iran cease enrichment is a minimum US requirement for the penalties side of the carrots-and-sticks package.

He also said the idea of the United States offering Iran security guarantees as part of the incentives is not on the table.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will represent the United States at the Vienna meeting, which was preceded by a lengthy telephone conference call by senior diplomats of the six countries yesterday to lay the groundwork for the ministerial meeting.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in Malaysia, his government was prepared to return without preconditions to nuclear negotiations with Britain, France and Germany that broke down last year.

However, White House press secretary Tony Snow declined to call the reported Iranian offer a ''political breakthrough'' but made it clear that the United States would welcome a renewal of the negotiations.

''We're glad they're going back to the EU-Three talks and we hope that they produce productive results. We've always been clear on the end-state, which is that, you know, we want Iran to suspend all enrichment and reprocessing activities, and we wish them success,'' he told reporters.

Mr Snow said the US approach to the stated Iranian willingness to negotiate would be ''trust but verify.'' Iran has said its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, but that it has a right to enrich uranium and will not return to any freeze on such activity.

The United States and some European governments believe Iran has a covert nuclear weapons programme.

UNI