Tehran - Iran on Tuesday delivered a message to the European
Union in Brussels and allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) to send an inspection team to Tehran, ISNA news agency
reported.
An unnamed Iranian official confirmed that a message was delivered
to the EU officials in Brussels through Iranian ambassador Ali-Asghar
Khaji but said that the message was not, as initially reported by the
local media, a reply to the world powers offer.
The official told ISNA that the delivered message was just the
text of Sunday's phone contact between EU foreign policy chief Javier
Solana and Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeid Jalili.
So far phone contacts between Solana and Jalili - and his
predecessor Ali Larijani - have never been forwarded by Iran to the
EU side or at least never reported by the local state media.
The official added that Iran and the 5+1 (five United Nations veto
powers plus Germany) would continue their talks upon previous
agreements reached between the two sides.
Tehran insists that there has been no deadline by the 5+1 for Iran
to deliver a clear response to the world powers' offer and just wants
the talks to be continued and settled through both the 5+1 and
Iranian proposals.
ISNA further reported that IAEA chief inspector Olli Heinonen will
come to Tehran on Thursday for a three-day visit for holding talks
with Iranian officials on behalf of IAEA Director General Mohamed
ElBaradei.
ISNA did not say whether Heinonen and his team would inspect
nuclear sites in Iran.
Fars news agency had earlier Tuesday reported that Iran has
presented its reply to an offer by world powers to resolve the
dispute over its nuclear activities.
The offer by the five United Nations veto powers plus Germany is
for far-reaching economic cooperation with Iran, including the field
of civilian-sector nuclear power, in return for a pledge by Tehran to
refrain from uranium enrichment activities.
On Monday, the United States warned that Iran would face new
Security Council sanctions if it did not accept the offer of fresh
talks and incentives.
The Security Council's five permanent members - Britain, China,
France, Russia and the US - plus Germany were united in their threat
to slap additional economic and diplomatic sanctions on Iran if its
reaction to the new offer was not positive, US State Department
spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said.
Iran met with a delegation of the permanent Security Council
members plus Germany on July 19 in Geneva.
Meanwhile the commander of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards
on Monday reiterated his warning that if Iranian nuclear sites were
attacked by either the US or Israel, Iran would close the Strait of
Hormuz for an unlimited time period.
General Mohammad-Ali Jafari has several times warned in recent
months that Iran would use all possible options if militarily
attacked, including a blockade of the main oil routes in the Gulf and
the Strait of Hormuz.
A major part of regional oil exports are piped through the Gulf
and the Strait of Hormuz, and a blockade could trigger a worldwide
energy crisis.
USA
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