Iran wants "unconditional" talks on nuclear package

ALMATY, June 16 (Reuters) Iran wants to hold ''unconditional'' talks with Western powers on a package of incentives and penalties aimed at inducing it to abandon its nuclear programmes, its deputy foreign minister said today.

''We are convinced that it (the package) contains a lot of positive elements but a lot them are still unclear to us and raise questions,'' Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi told reporters, speaking through a Russian interpreter during a trip to the Kazakh city of Almaty.

''We are convinced that talks are very important but certainly talks must be unconditional,'' he said. ''There are a number of questions that need to be resolved through talks.'' Speaking earlier in Shanghai, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the package was a positive step, but gave no hint as to when he might formally respond to it.

''We are still considering the package and will very soon announce our position,'' Araghchi said.

The West believes Iran's uranium enrichment could be used to make nuclear weapons, but Tehran insists it is purely for energy-generation and civilian use.

REUTERS SHR KP1431