Iran wants talks, France says stop atomic work first

PARIS, Aug 23: World powers are ready to take up Iran's call for talks over its nuclear aims but only if it first suspends Uranium enrichment, France said today with a UN deadline for Tehran to halt the programme approaching.

Iran handed over its answer to an incentives offer from six nations yesterday, saying it contained ideas that would allow serious negotiations to start immediately. Previous such calls for dialogue have been seen by the West as a stalling tactic.

''As we have always said ... a return to the negotiating table is tied to the suspension of Uranium enrichment,'' French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told a news conference.

Diplomats said Iran's response did not accept this precondition, which it previously dismissed as worthless.

The UN Security Council has warned Iran could face sanctions if it does not meet an August 31 deadline to freeze enrichment, a process that can be used to make fuel for nuclear power plants or material for warheads.

The five permanent Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany offered Iran economic and other incentives to stop enrichment. So far, they have not given their verdict on Iran's reply.

Two European diplomats said Iran's 21-page reply ruled out shelving enrichment activity before any talks but indicated that it might be open to doing so in the course of negotiations.

''It doesn't rule out a suspension, but it asks that talks start first, before a suspension,'' said one diplomat.

''It is not acceptable at first look. But we now must make a judgment whether a change in tactics is merited.

''It is not a rambling letter, like the earlier letter from President Ahmadinejad (to US President George W Bush),'' the diplomat added. ''It is also not as tendentious. It deserves a considered response.''

DIVIDE-AND-RULE TACTICS? Analysts say Iran's answer, described by diplomats as complex and nuanced, was probably designed to divide Security Council members Russia and China, both key trade partners of Tehran, from the United States, Britain and France, which have backed tougher sanctions. All five have a veto on the Council.

''In the reply, although (the West) has taken destructive measures, Iran has tried to create new opportunities for resolving the issue,'' senior Iranian nuclear official Ali Hosseinitash told Iran's official news agency IRNA.

Douste-Blazy described the reply as ''a very long, complex document'' and said the six powers would decide in a few days what to do in the Security Council.

One of the European diplomats said the sextet would reserve judgment pending a report from UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, due August 31, that will certify whether Iran has stopped enrichment-related work or not.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who delivered the offer to Iran 2-1/2 months ago, said the reply ''requires a detailed and careful analysis''.

The White House said yesterday that Bush had yet to examine the reply. The US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said Washington was set to move quickly on a resolution seeking sanctions if Tehran rejected the incentives offer.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement urged Iran to consider international concerns and take ''constructive steps ... We also hope that other parties remain patient and calm,'' it added.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin, reflecting Moscow's coolness to sanctions, was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying: ''Russia will continue with the idea of seeking a political, negotiated settlement concerning Iran's nuclear programme.'' The world's fourth-largest oil exporter, Iran says it needs to enrich uranium as a peaceful, alternative energy source and has a right to do so under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Western diplomats say Iran has that right only once it has proved it is not secretly trying to make atomic bombs.

Oil prices, which have surged to record highs in recent months partly due to tensions over the atomic standoff, fell below 73 dollars a barrel today. Traders said Iranian intransigence was factored into the market.

The powers have offered Iran state-of-the-art nuclear technology, the easing of some trade restrictions and other incentives such as support for a regional security framework.

REUTERS