EU'S Solana to hand Iran nuclear incemtoves offer

TEHRAN, June 5 (Reuters) European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana arrives in Iran late today to deliver an offer of incentives aimed at persuading the Islamic Republic to abandon its plans to make nuclear fuel.

The incentive package, which he will hand over on Tuesday, has been put together by the three biggest EU states -- Britain, France and Germany -- and approved by a forum that also included the United States, China and Russia.

''If their aim is not politicising the issue, and if they consider our demand, we can reach a logical agreement with them,'' Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters shortly before Solana's arrival.

He did not specify Iran's ''demand'', but Iranian officials have previously said Iran will not give up uranium enrichment, the package's main requirement.

Washington said Iran would need time to consider the proposals, suggesting there would be no sudden breakthrough.

The aim of the offer is to defuse a nuclear standoff with the West that has helped push oil prices to near record highs on fears that supplies from the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and the Gulf region could be disrupted if the dispute escalates.

''Solana will have a full morning of meetings in Tehran tomorrow (Tuesday) in order to present and explain the offer of the six powers and the EU,'' said Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach, without naming those he would meet.

An EU diplomat in Tehran, who asked not to be identified, said Solana would hand the package to chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in a meeting on Tuesday. Mottaki said he would also meet Solana.

Details have not been announced, but diplomats have been working on themes ranging from offering nuclear reactor technology to giving security guarantees.

Western nations fear Iran is enriching uranium to make an atomic bomb, but Iran insists its aims are entirely peaceful and that it wants to make fuel only to generate electricity.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran would consider incentives but insisted the crux of the package was still unacceptable. Iranian officials have hinted Tehran might be willing to limit the scale of Iran's uranium enrichment plans.

The United States has said Iran is probably staking out a negotiating position with its tough talk rather than rejecting the offer. Washington has said it wants a diplomatic solution to the dispute but has refused to rule out a military option.

Iran often says it believes a U.S. attack is unlikely.

''We believe that America is not in a position to get involved in another crisis in this region and impose another crisis on its people,'' Mottaki said today.

Reuters SK VP0030