Germany expects Iran to decide on offer soon

Berlin, Jun 7: Germany's foreign minister said he expected Iran to decide by the end of this month on an offer of incentives to suspend sensitive nuclear work. Yesterday after meeting EU Foreign policy chief Javier Solana, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was asked by reporters whether a Group of Eight foreign ministers' meeting at the end of June was the deadline for Iran to respond to the offer.

''This is certainly a date by which one can expect a decision,'' Steinmeier said.

He said he was pleased Iran had agreed to study the proposals and hoped Tehran would go further and accept them, but added: ''We can't be too optimistic.'' Solana presented Iran's chief negotiator Ali Larijani with the package, agreed by the United States, Russia, China and the ''EU3'', Britain, France and Germany, earlier on Tuesday.

The proposals have not been made public but include incentives and penalties aimed at persuading Iran to give up enriching uranium, which the West fears will be used to build atomic bombs. Tehran says its nuclear aims are purely civilian.

Larijani said the proposals had positive points but also some ''ambiguities'' that should be removed.

Asked about Larijani's comments, Solana said one should be patient and wait a few days before going into details.

REUTERS

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