Iran Shows Defiance, but No Signal on Incentives Proposal

Iranian political and religious leaders sounded defiant Friday in the face of an accord between major world powers demanding that Tehran suspend its nuclear program in exchange for a package of incentives, but they stopped short of saying they would reject the deal.

Little new was said, and none of it addressed specifically the incentives and penalties agreed upon here Thursday by permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany.

In comments to the official Iranian news agency, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said international pressure “would not bear fruit,” and he obliquely accused Israel of being behind the effort to censure Iran.

None of this surprised European diplomats, who said the Iranians were masters of brinkmanship, making their diplomatic moves at the last possible minute. They said it was crucial not to jump to conclusions about Tehran’s position.

European officials have been negotiating intermittently for two years with Iran to seek a permanent halt to its uranium enrichment program. The talks broke off early this year when Tehran ended its voluntary suspension and restarted enrichment at its plant at Natanz.

In a major turnabout from its long-standing refusal to negotiate with Iran, the Bush administration this week agreed to join the European efforts. On Thursday, Russia and China also signed on to a deal designed to give Iran a choice between engagement with the world community if it gives up its enrichment activities and isolation if it does not.

Diplomats hope negotiations with officials in Tehran will restart, but it is unclear whether that will happen.

In Friday sermons, which signal the stance of Iranian religious leaders who shape aspects of the country’s politics, clerics slammed the United States but said almost nothing about the offer made Thursday.

“The USA constitutes the largest danger to international security,” said leading cleric Ahmad Khatami at Friday prayers at Tehran University. His other comments seemed designed to bolster Iranian confidence, reminding people of the country’s resourcefulness in the face of a decades-long embargo by the U.S. and the ravages of the 1980-88 war with Iraq.

“Iran was exposed during the last 27 years to an economic embargo, whose effect was great for Iran” because it enabled the country to make progress in the science and technology fields. “Iran changed the crisis into an opportunity,” he said, referring to the country’s efforts to foster home-grown scientific and engineering expertise.

As for threatening Iran with military action, a move the U.S. has stepped away from in recent comments, Khatami reminded worshipers that “Iran endured eight years of war that was imposed upon it” by Iraq.

His comments were broadcast to Iranian satellite channels in Baghdad.

Western powers believe Iran wants to be able to build a nuclear bomb, but Tehran insists that it seeks only to enrich uranium to fuel civilian power plants.

The package of incentives probably will be offered to Tehran early next week by a delegation of European envoys, who may be joined by representatives of other permanent Security Council members, most likely Russia and China, diplomats said Friday.

Details of the offer were not disclosed because, diplomats said, they wanted to present it first to Tehran. But it reportedly combines promises of economic and technological aid, as well as security guarantees, with a commitment to forgo Security Council action against Iran if nuclear activities are suspended.

The United States would not be part of that delegation because it broke off diplomatic relations with Iran after 52 Americans were taken hostage in Tehran in 1979. Washington would resume contact only after Tehran agreed to the terms of negotiations and suspended activities related to uranium enrichment and reprocessing.

Although there had been some hope that the signals from Iran would be more positive, the initial reaction was expected by many diplomats.

“We don’t expect the Iranians to throw open their arms and say, ‘This is what we wanted,’ ” a European diplomat said. “They are not going to back off their rhetoric easily.”

However, others cautioned that if the Iranians are seeking to make a nuclear weapon, it will be difficult for them to agree to suspend all enrichment-related activities, including centrifuge operations. Centrifuges used in the process are delicate mechanisms and halting them often causes breakage.

“If they are really after a weapons program, they can’t say yes.... They could say yes if they are prepared to stop. But they would have to open everything, and when it comes out there is something, it will be difficult,” said a European diplomat in Vienna.

“But it’s a chance for the Iranians,” the diplomat added.

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Times staff writer Raheem Salman in Baghdad contributed to this report.