Nuclear Crisis

[Rasputin]

The United States said it was optimistic that ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany meeting in Vienna this week would endorse a plan to end the crisis over Iran's nuclear program.

The plan involves a European Union-drafted package of incentives to get Iran to guarantee it will not make nuclear weapons, as well as sanctions if Tehran does not comply.

Washington confirmed that the five permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain -- and Germany were scheduled to meet in the Austrian capital on Thursday.

"I think the assessment right now is that we feel as though we're in pretty good shape going into Vienna," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

He said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would leave Washington Wednesday for the Vienna talks a day later on the package, which is to guarantee Iran's right to develop nuclear energy in return for Tehran agreeing to halt uranium enrichment.

The enrichment process can be extended to make nuclear weapons, experts say.

Asked whether the ministers would "bless" the package, McCormack said confidently, "It is our hope that they will be ready to sign off on the package in Vienna, if not beforehand."

He declined to give details.

"I think we're going to hold off in talking about specific parts of the package until we really have the whole thing put together, ministers and capitals having blessed it, and ready to talk about it in public," he said.

It was reported that disagreements among the six nations centered around the timing of a Security Council resolution to require Iran to comply and open the door to sanctions.

Russia and China want to delay any sanctions but the United States, France, Germany and Britain want them imposed quickly following any Iranian non-compliance, a European diplomat said.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Iran would publish details of the package of incentives and possible penalties prepared by the United States and five other major powers aimed at halting Iran's nuclear program.

In a speech in which he warned Iran's critics against "threats and intimidation," Ahmadinejad seemed to sweep aside a request by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to keep the process confidential. Western diplomats had said they were trying to avoid the appearance of threatening Iran by keeping the terms of the package as private as possible, especially the specific penalties Iran might face if it continues to enrich uranium.

We will record the talks and we will publish them at the appropriate time, so our people will be informed about the details," Ahmadinejad said in his first speech since the package was agreed upon by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany.

Addressing a crowd of government loyalists at the tomb of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran's theocratic state, Ahmadinejad said Iran would not prejudge the offer from the United States and the other countries. But he reiterated Iran's refusal to cease enriching uranium as a condition for formal negotiations, saying, "The Iranian nation's right to nuclear technology and power is legal and definite, and we will not talk about these issues."

However, Ahmadinejad also said Iran was willing to discuss "the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and how to stop it," as well as peace and other "common concerns." The language underscored Iran's contention that its nuclear program is aimed purely at producing electrical power. The United States and the Europeans have long suspected Iran of having a clandestine military nuclear program.

The latest effort was agreed upon by the six major powers in Vienna on Thursday. It includes an extraordinary offer by the Bush administration to bring senior U.S. diplomats into direct talks with Iran, breaking a taboo of 27 years. Iran had solicited the American overture, but today Ahmadinejad seized on the tough language used by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice while announcing the historic offer last week. "You have been talking about 'musts' and 'mustn'ts' in your offer. This is not something we accept," Ahmadinejad said. "You have to change your language. You have got to recognize our rights and talk to us based on mutual respect."

[Rasputin]

Tehran's chief negotiator said proposals on Tuesday by six world powers to end a dispute over Iran's nuclear fuel enrichment had positive points but also some "ambiguities" that must be removed.

The proposals, which have not been made public but include incentives and penalties, seek to persuade 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.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier 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.

"The proposals had some positive steps in them and some ambiguities which should be removed," Larijani said. He did not elaborate on the "ambiguities."

"We hope, after we study the proposal in detail, we will have another round of talks and negotiations to achieve a balanced and logical conclusion," he said.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after meeting Solana later on Tuesday he expected Iran to decide on the package by the end of June when foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations are due to meet.

The United States, Iran's arch foe which has been at the forefront of efforts to pressure the Islamic Republic to give up enrichment, said it was heartening Iran was taking the incentives package seriously.

But Washington reiterated the Iranian government needed to suspend nuclear enrichment activities before any direct talks.

Progress will depend on overcoming deep mutual mistrust.

Tehran has impeded probes by the U.N. atomic energy agency which have pointed to military links with nuclear work and possible secret activity, although no hard evidence of diversions into bombmaking has been found.

For its part, Washington, which broke ties with Tehran in 1980, says it wants a diplomatic solution but refuses to rule out military action.

HAGGLING ON INCENTIVES

"If the Iranians agree to suspend enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, then we'll be able to discuss more openly what the incentives are and we certainly hope that that's the case," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters traveling with President George W. Bush.

So far, Iran has refused to give up uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make fuel for nuclear power stations or, if enriched to a sufficiently high level, material for bombs. Iran says enrichment is a national right.

Iran's IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told Solana underlined what he said was Iran's right to research nuclear technology. "This issue should be very clear and without any ambiguity in the negotiations," he said.

Iranian officials have hinted Tehran might negotiate over its plans for industrial-scale enrichment but have insisted on keeping research and development activities without specifying how many centrifuges to enrich uranium that would require.

The dispute has rattled oil markets, particularly after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, hinted on Sunday that the world's fourth largest oil exporter could use oil as a weapon in the dispute if pushed.

Crude prices eased $1 after Larijani's comments but, at around $72 a barrel, are still close to record highs.

U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Tuesday the world could cope with a cutoff in Iranian oil exports "for a while."

Diplomats in Washington said an arms embargo against Iran was among the possible penalties but said the incentives were kept secret to ensure Iran did not feel the need to publicly reject the offer before it had been discussed.

Iranian officials said the incentives included access to spare parts needed to renovate its aging airliner fleet and the chance to purchase U.S. agricultural technology.

Diplomats have also touched on themes ranging from offering nuclear reactor technology to giving security guarantees.

The package was put together to try to break a deadlock at the United Nations about how to deal with Iran. China and Russia had been reluctant to back a resolution they feared could have led to sanctions or possibly even military action.

Among those with Solana in Tehran was Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Kisliak, the first time Russia has actively joined the EU3 in confronting Iran since the European powers began negotiating nearly three years ago, EU diplomats said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao also agreed in a phone conversation on Tuesday that Iran should return to talks to resolve the dispute.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will issue a new report on Iran's atomic fuel program on Thursday, an IAEA diplomat in Vienna said. Another diplomat said it would not contain big revelations, partly because Iran was stalling to see how negotiations on the package develop.

[Rasputin]

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday Iran was ready to discuss "mutual concerns" over his country's nuclear program, but he refused to first suspend uranium enrichment.

His comments came a day after world powers backed off a demand that Iran commit to a prolonged moratorium on uranium enrichment, asking only for a suspension during talks on its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad did not say whether he accepted the proposal, part of a package of incentives in exchange for Iran suspending enrichment.

Last week, the United States agreed last week to join France, Britain and Germany in talks with Iran. If the talks occur, it would be the first major public negotiations between Washington and Tehran in more than 25 years.

However, Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran would never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to produce nuclear fuel.

"On behalf of the Iranian nation, I'm announcing that the Iranian nation will never hold negotiations about its definite rights with anybody, but we are for talks about mutual concerns to resolve misunderstandings in the international arena," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Qazvin, west of the capital Tehran.

"Negotiations should be held in a fair atmosphere and on the basis of equality," he said. "If they think they can threaten and hold a stick over Iran's head and offer negotiations at the same time, they should know the Iranian nation will definitely reject such an atmosphere."

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has said the incentives package included both "positive steps" and "ambiguities that need to be cleared up." Tehran has said it will announce its position after carefully studying the package.

"International monopolists have been defeated in the face of your resistance and solidarity, and have been forced to acknowledge your dignity and greatness," Ahmadinejad told the crowd, referring to the U.S. and its allies.

The United States and other Western nations suspect Iran's nuclear program is intended to produce weapons. Iran insists it is intended only to produce power, arguing it needs enrichment technology to produce fuel for atomic reactors that would generate electricity.

[Rasputin]

Iran slowed uranium enrichment in May but picked up the pace on the day it got an offer to abandon the work, a report by the UN nuclear agency shows.
The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran was installing more centrifuge enrichment machines.

It also says new traces of highly enriched uranium have been found.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said, meanwhile, he was "more optimistic than pessimistic" about reaching a deal with Iran.

NUCLEAR OFFER
Iran allowed to buy spare parts for civilian aircraft made by US manufacturers
Restrictions lifted on the use of US technology in agriculture
Provision of light water nuclear reactors and enriched fuel
Support for Iranian membership of World Trade Organisation
From Western diplomatic sources

In the confidential report, a copy of which was obtained by the BBC, the IAEA says Iran had continued its sensitive uranium enrichment work over the past few weeks.

During May the work was at a slower pace but on Tuesday Iranian scientists at the enrichment plant in Natanz picked up speed, it says.

In a separate development, the report says a small number of particles of highly enriched uranium had been found on equipment at a technical university in Iran.

It says Teheran told the IAEA the equipment had not been used for nuclear activities and that an investigation is under way.

Low enriched uranium can be used for atomic power plants. At a higher level of enrichment, it can be used for nuclear bombs.

The report is due to be discussed by the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors next week in Vienna.

Ahamdinejad's comments

The international community is awaiting Tehran's response to the package of incentives offered by the world's six major power submitted by Mr Solana to Iranian officials on Tuesday.

The deal from the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany offers incentives if Tehran suspends uranium enrichment.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday Tehran was ready to discuss "common concerns" about its nuclear programme but pledged not to negotiate what technology to use.

"The Iranian nation will never hold negotiations about its definite rights," he said.

Mr Ahmadinejad did not say if Iran accepted the proposal handed over by Mr Solana.

Western nations fear Iran is enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons, while Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes.

[Rasputin]

Iran’s religious leaders' efforts to build a nuclear industry (and perhaps nuclear weapons) are taking it down a path of confrontation with the rest of the world which is guaranteed to increase the country’s isolation and contribute to the worsening of the economic pressure on Iran’s impoverished population. I’m not just talking about the short-term potential or additional sanctions or even military action against Iran, rather taking a longer-term view.

Let’s put knee-jerk nationalism aside for a moment. Before we parrot the mullahs’ line in claiming that nuclear energy is our legal and God-given right, let’s try to think systematically about Iran’s nuclear ambitions in an objective framework, and examine the potential motivations for pursuing such a program.

Iran’s nuclear ambitions go back to the Shah, who started Iran’s nuclear program in the 1970s. (by the way, how many Iranians would support the nuclear program if the Shah was still around?) There was then, as there are today, three possible motivations for pursuing such a program: as part of an overall energy strategy, to acquire technology in a critical field, or to develop nuclear weapons.

Energy: Iran holds one-tenth of the world’s oil reserves and has the second largest gas reserves in the world. In this context, the development of nuclear potential as part of a long-term energy program should be a very low priority, as the country’s conventional energy resources will provide its energy needs for decades, if not longer. A program of energy conservation and development of alternative clean energy would clearly be more cost-effective. Furthermore, there are clear security concerns. Not only is Iran at the center of one of the most active earthquake zones in the world, but I do not think that we would want to entrust the safety of operations of a nuclear plant to this corrupt and inept government. The combination of these two factors does conjure the specter of another Chernobyl-an issue which has been raised by Iran’s neighbors.

Technology: If the object of the program is to achieve mastery of a key technology, why doesn’t the government harness Iran’s capital and immense human talent to become a global leader in environmentally-friendly alternative energy technology? We only need to look at the outstanding scientific and technological achievements of our fellow Iranians in the United States to believe that this is possible. Our neighbor Qatar, also a major natural gas producer, is on the verge of launching a multi-billion Gas-to Liquid (GTL) plant, which converts natural gas into clean diesel fuel. Why not Iran? At this stage, what has the Islamic regime achieved in terms of nuclear technology, except maybe having obtained a few grams of low-level enriched uranium by using a second-hand, and essentially unreliable stolen Pakistani centrifuge technology? What’s the next step?

Nuclear weapons: This brings us to the third and most compelling argument, that of developing nuclear weapons, or at least a weaponization capability. The standard arguments offered by the government (and repeated by many Iranians) are two-fold. First, if Israel has nuclear weapons, so should Iran. Second, that it allows Iran to fend off threats from the United States. On the first point, despite the propaganda war by Ahmadinejad and his cohorts, Iran has no direct quarrel with the Israel or any compelling long-term strategic reasons to confront the Jewish state.

Even if the Islamic regime developed a nuclear weapon, it would be difficult to imagine circumstances under which it would be used (by the way, has any one in Iran thought about delivery systems?) If Israel did use nuclear weapons against one of its Arab neighbors, would Iran use its own against Israel at the risk of having several of its cities vaporized in response? The answer has to be a clear no! Regarding the second motivation, having a few nuclear weapons is clearly not a deterrent against a superpower which has several thousand of highly accurate warheads. We can also be sure that, if Iran were to develop nuclear weapons, our larger neighbors would follow suit, and within a decade, the whole region would be nuclearized. Ultimately, developing nuclear weapons would be a highly dangerous regional zero-sum game.

In the globalized and integrated world we are living in today, economic prowess always trumps military might. The world’s political and business leaders line up to pay homage to China and India, not as nuclear powers, but as the two giants that will almost certainly dominate the world economy in the coming decades. In the past decade, major developing countries such as Brazil, Argentina and South Africa, gave up their nuclear ambitions in an internationally verifiable way, preferring to focus their energies on their economic development and the prosperity of their people. Look where they are today and compare it with the dismal economic track record of Iran’s Islamic regime.

In the past twenty seven years, the mullahs have consistently put their survival ahead of the welfare of the Iranian people. The nuclear issue, which gives them a new lease on life, is for their benefit, not for the Iranian people -- and is a vivid illustration of the famous quote about patriotism being the last refuge of scoundrels. We have their answer, what should ours be?

[Rasputin]

Iran has until the Group of Eight (G8 summit in mid-July to consider an offer of incentives to suspend its nuclear enrichment program, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel was quoted as saying on Friday.

Asked what would happen if Iran did not accept the offer, Schuessel, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "This will be discussed within the framework of the G8. Iran has until the world economic summit in July to think it over."

His comments represent the first clear deadline for Iran to respond to the offer, prepared by Germany, France and Britain and backed by the EU, United States, Russia and China. The G8 summit will be held in St. Petersburg, Russia on July 15-17.

An EU diplomat told Reuters that the 25-nation bloc's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, who brought the offer to Iran earlier this week, did not set any deadline for a response.

But European and U.S. officials have made it clear they would not wait months for an Iranian response to the offer of civilian nuclear technology, security guarantees and other benefits if Iran freezes nuclear fuel production.

It also threatens Iran with economic and political sanctions if it rejects the offer.

Tehran says it wants only to produce low-enriched uranium to generate electricity. But many countries suspect Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil producer, seeks to purify uranium to the extremely high levels needed to fuel atomic weapons.

Schuessel said that it was important to think of Iran in terms of a larger context and not to focus on the idea of preventing a single country from developing atomic weapons.

"It's not just a question of Iran, but a host of other countries which stand on the threshold of a nuclear technology that can ultimately lead to nuclear weapons -- 10 countries and Iran is the first," he said.

But he said that Iran had an obligation to demonstrate that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful as it says they are.

"If the Iranian leaders are serious about not wanting nuclear weapons, then they should support this with facts. That's relatively easy to do," Schuessel said.

He added that the international community needed to urgently come up with a way of bolstering the non-proliferation regime.

"We need international concepts, whereby one could enrich uranium under international oversight and supervision," he said, echoing an idea long championed by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog chief, Mohamed ElBaradei.

[Rasputin]

An Iranian official has confirmed that the country has stepped up its nuclear activities, following a report from the UN atomic agency that said Iran has accelerated uranium enrichment.

"Iran has started another stage of injecting hexafluoride gas into centrifuge machines," the student news agency ISNA quoted an unnamed official as saying on Friday.

"Iran is also pursuing a plan to have a 3,000-centrifuge cascade by the end of the current year (March 2007)," he noted, adding that all the material used in uranium enrichment facilities has been produced domestically.

A report from the International Atomic Energy Agency obtained by AFP on Thursday said that Iran had accelerated uranium enrichment on June 6, the same day world powers asked it to halt the work and open talks to guarantee it will not make nuclear weapons.

On that Tuesday, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Tehran to present a package of benefits aimed at enticing Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.

Enriched uranium makes nuclear reactor fuel, and in a highly refined form can produce atom bomb material.

"Iran is continuing its installation work on other 164-machine cascades," said the report from the IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei.

Iran built the cascade as a pilot plant for what it hopes will eventually be an industrial plant of more than 50,000 centrifuges, used to refine the uranium 235 isotope.

Iran started last August to make feedstock uranium hexafluoride gas, which it then fed into centrifuges in February this year. It produced enriched uranium beginning in April.

The quality of enriched uranium being produced in April was appropriate for nuclear reactor fuel and was not the highly-enriched variety needed to make weapons.

[Rasputin]

Iran - A top hard-line cleric on Friday came out against a Western incentive package aimed at persuading Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, reflecting conservative pressure on the government to reject the offer.


It was not immediately clear if Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati's comments in any way represented the Iranian government. Jannati is the head of the powerful Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog arbitrating between the parliament and the government. He is not considered a government official.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, has overruled hard-liners previously in the nuclear dispute.

"The package they have presented is a package (that is) good for them. It's not good for Iran," Jannati said in his Friday prayer sermon.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, presented the package to Iran on Tuesday. Its contents have not been made public, but diplomats said the package includes economic rewards and a provision for some U.S. nuclear technology if Iran halts enriching uranium.

Together with Germany, the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council — the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia — have only demanded that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, and not permanently halt it as an initial condition for negotiations.

The offer, however, also contains the implicit threat of U.N. sanctions if Iran remains defiant.

In Paris, French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair met Friday to discuss international efforts to stem Iran's nuclear program. Afterward, Chirac declared that the international community "cannot accept" Iran's nuclear program, because it could lead to the development of nuclear arms.

Blair said he agreed but also expressed optimism about "the way things have changed in the past couple of weeks to get a diplomatic solution to this."

"There's a better chance" now of finding a way out that would satisfy the international community and respect Iran's rights, he said.

Iran's initial reaction to the package was encouraging. But Tehran has said it will only announce its position after carefully studying the package. Solana said he expects a reply within "weeks."

Jannati said Iran must continue enriching uranium.

"We have to maintain enrichment to the level of 3.5 to 5 percent. They have no choice but to accept it," Jannati added. Uranium enriched to this level is used in nuclear reactors to produce electricity. It needs to be enriched to more than 90 percent for use in a warhead.

Tehran is under intense international pressure to accept the deal in exchange for putting on hold a uranium enrichment program that the West fears could lead to the creation of nuclear weapons.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, has said the proposals had "positive steps" but that talks were needed to clear up ambiguities. Iran promised to study the proposals seriously, but gave no timeframe for a response.

In a major policy shift, the United States agreed last week to join France, Britain and Germany in talks with Iran, provided Tehran suspends all suspect nuclear activities. Tehran has welcomed direct talks with Washington, but rejected any preconditions.

[Rasputin]

Iran is ready to discuss "common concerns" about its nuclear programme but pledged not to negotiate what technology to use, its president says.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not say if Iran accepted a Western proposal to restart negotiations and offer incentives if Tehran suspended uranium enrichment.

"The Iranian nation will never hold negotiations about its definite rights," he said in a speech in Qazvin.

It is his first public comment since the plan was presented to Iran.

The international community is awaiting Tehran's response to the offer submitted by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to Iranian officials on Tuesday.

NUCLEAR OFFER
Iran allowed to buy spare parts for civilian aircraft made by US manufacturers
Restrictions lifted on the use of US technology in agriculture
Provision of light water nuclear reactors and enriched fuel
Support for Iranian membership of World Trade Organisation
From Western diplomatic sources

Western nations fear Iran is enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons, while Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes.

On Wednesday, diplomatic sources said the offer to Iran over its nuclear programme held out the prospect that it might be able to enrich uranium at some time in the future.

National pride

Earlier, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said the package of proposals contained "positive steps".

Iran has so far refused to accept any deal that relies on it giving up the right to enrich uranium - which it has said is its "inalienable" right.

The BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran says Iran has turned the nuclear issue into one of national pride, which makes it difficult to back down without being seen to compromise the country's fierce sense of independence.

The incentives package was drawn up by the UK, France and Germany, alongside the US, Russia and China, and delivered to Tehran by the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday.

It is understood to include permission for Iran to buy spare parts for civilian aircraft made by US manufacturers, and the provision of light water nuclear reactors.

Penalties warning

NUCLEAR DIPLOMACY
28 April: UN nuclear watchdog say Tehran has ignored calls to halt uranium enrichment
Early May: UN debates draft resolution calling for halt to uranium enrichment
Mid-May: EU countries work on proposals to try to induce Iran to curb atomic programme
31 May: US offers to join direct talks with Iran, in major policy shift
1 June: US, Russia, China and three EU states agree on package of incentives and penalties
6 June: EU foreign policy chief presents proposals in Tehran

The uranium used to make power in light water reactors needs to be enriched, but this can be done outside the country. The reactors are more difficult than other types to use as a source of plutonium for building nuclear weapons.

Other incentives are said to include the lifting of restrictions on the use of US technology in agriculture and support for Iranian membership of the World Trade Organisation.

The US earlier warned Iran a rejection of the proposals could bring UN-imposed penalties.

That would depend on passing a resolution on sanctions at the UN Security Council, where unanimity between the US and Europe on one hand, and Russia and China on the other, has been difficult to achieve.

[Rasputin]

Iran may send its own nuclear package in response to proposed incentives agreed by six world powers that seek to persuade Tehran to stop its atomic fuel work, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Saturday.

Mottaki did not specify what changes to the package Iran might seek, but Tehran has repeatedly rejected the crux of the proposal -- that it should give up enriching uranium.

"We hope that shuttle diplomacy will lead to a genuine proposal from the Islamic Republic that could possibly be sent to European counterparts as an amendment or a counter-package and that will be assessed carefully by the Europeans," Mottaki was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has complained about the incentives' "ambiguities."

Iran has been referred to the UN Security Council where it could face sanctions, after failing to convince the international community that its atomic scientists are seeking to build power stations, not weapons.

The United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China have agreed a set of incentives for Iran on the condition that it stops making nuclear fuel, something Tehran has said it will never do.

Among the incentives, which Western diplomats say include offers of a light-water reactor and a facility for storing atomic fuel, is a U.S. offer to join the European Union's direct talks with Iran.

Analysts see the proposals as a way of giving Iran a last chance before Western powers lobby for tough action against Iran at the UN Security Council.

President Bush on Friday said Iran had "weeks not months" to respond to the proposals and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel has said Iran has until next month's Group of Eight (G8 summit to consider the offer.

But Mottaki told the Mehr news agency: "We have not defined a deadline for assessing the proposal."

Although Mottaki's remarks on a counter-offer are an indication of Iranian dissatisfaction with the deal, the last word on nuclear matters does not lie with the foreign ministry.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has entrusted nuclear matters to the Supreme National Security Council and appointed Larijani as chief negotiator.

Larijani arrived in Egypt on Saturday to hold atomic talks with Egypt's foreign minister and meet Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. Iran has long been striving to try to persuade nervous Arab neighbors that its ambitions are peaceful.

[Rasputin]

Iran said Sunday that some parts of a Western incentives package aimed at resolving the dispute over its nuclear program are acceptable.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also said Iran is not stalling by taking time to respond to the package, which was presented to it last week and promises U.S. and European nuclear help if Iran suspends its uranium enrichment program.

"We started studying the package the moment it was presented to us," Asefi told reporters. "There are points which are acceptable. There are points which are ambiguous. There are points that we believe should be strengthened, and points that we believe should not exist."

Asefi did not elaborate on which parts he was referring to.

Meanwhile, the United States and Europe are lobbying other nations to join this week in urging Iran to start talks on its uranium enrichment program, according to documents shared Sunday with The Associated Press.

Two position papers, issued before Monday's board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reflect a concerted Western effort to persuade members of the 35-nation board to line up behind a six-nation offer to Iran to talk about its nuclear ambitions.

The texts, which were circulated among board member nations, were shared with the AP by diplomats accredited to the gathering.

President Bush said Friday that Iran will have weeks and not months to decide whether to accept the proposals or face the prospect of penalties.

Asefi insisted that "no deadline has been given. A deadline doesn't exist." But he added that Iran "is not seeking to buy time."

"We have to evaluate it. We will use our time as long as is necessary," Asefi said. "We will give our views in response to the package and we will offer our proposals."

His comments reflected Iran's intention to seek changes in the offer. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Saturday that his country would present a counteroffer — either a variant of the package or an entirely new proposal. He did not provide details on Iran's proposals or say when they might be presented.

The United States and Europe suspect Iran's nuclear program is intended to produce weapons. Iran insists it is intended only to produce power, arguing it needs enrichment technology to produce fuel for atomic reactors that would generate electricity.

Meanwhile, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, met Sunday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss Tehran's position.

"The Iranian nuclear program does not represent any danger to the Arab and Islamic nations because it deals with peaceful nuclear technology," Larijani said later after talks with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

"We don't seek a nuclear bomb and the program will help Arab and Islamic countries."

Moussa said Larijani presented "full assurance that their program is peaceful" and that he discussed with him concerns among Gulf countries over the program.

The package put forward by the five permanent member of the U.N. Security Council — the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia — plus Germany aims to restart negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.

It included some significant concessions by the United States aimed at enticing Tehran to freeze enrichment — a process that can produce fuel for electricity-generating reactors or, if sufficiently processed, the fissile core for a warhead.

Washington would provide Iran with peaceful nuclear technology, lift some sanctions and join direct negotiations with Tehran.

The package also pulls back from demands that Iran outright scrap its enrichment program as an initial condition for negotiations, seeking instead a suspension. However, it also contains the implicit threat of U.N. sanctions if Iran remains defiant.

When presented with the proposal's details Tuesday, Iran said they contain "positive steps" but also ambiguities, which it said had to be cleared up in further talks. It said it would study the package before announcing its stance.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who presented the offer to Tehran, said he expected a reply within weeks.

[Rasputin]

Fresh evidence has emerged that Iran is working on a secret military project to develop nuclear weapons that has not been declared to United Nations inspectors responsible for monitoring Iran’s nuclear programme.

Nuclear experts working for the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna are pressing the Iranians to make a full disclosure about a network of research laboratories at a secret military base outside the capital Teheran.

The project is codenamed Zirzamin 27, and its purpose is to enable the Iranians to undertake uranium enrichment to military standard. Zirzamin means “basement” in Farsi, which suggests the laboratories are underground and 27 refers to the 27-year-old Iranian revolution.

Concerns over activity at Zirzamin 27 will be raised at this week’s meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors in Vienna, which starts today.

Suspicions have been growing that Iran has a secret military nuclear research programme since UN inspectors discovered particles of enriched uranium at a research complex at Lavizan, a military base on the outs***ts of Teheran, in 2003.

The Iranians agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to visit the Lavizan complex but then razed it to the ground before the inspectors arrived.

Iranian nuclear officials have ignored repeated requests by IAEA officials for a detailed explanation of the Lavizan project. Now the IAEA officials are studying new intelligence indicating that the Lavizan research project has been moved to a secret military location outside Teheran.

Although IAEA officials do not know the precise location of Zirzamin 27, they have comprehensive details of its activities.

“This is a truly alarming development,” said a senior western diplomat working with the IAEA. “This evidence indicates that the Iranians remain committed to developing nuclear weapons, despite their claims to the contrary that their nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful.”

Teheran has consistently argued that its nuclear programme is aimed at developing an indigenous nuclear power industry. But Iran’s insistence on developing its own uranium enrichment facilities has raised concerns that it has a well-advanced programme to develop nuclear weapons.

The Zirzamin 27 operation is thought to be being supervised by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards under the direction of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the head of Iran’s Modern Defensive Readiness and Technology Centre, a top-secret military research site.

According to reports being studied by IAEA officials, scientists working at Zirzamin are required to wear standard military uniforms when entering and leaving the complex to give the impression they are involved in normal military activity. They are only allowed to change into protective clothing once inside the site.

Special attention has also been given to developing specialised ventilation systems to make sure no incriminating particles of radioactive material are allowed to escape.