Iran response ‘positive’ to nuclear offer

Iran delivered a “constructive” preliminary response Friday to a package of incentives meant to persuade it to curtail parts of its nuclear program, European and Iranian officials said.

Iran’s ambassador to Belgium delivered a letter signed by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to the office of European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Brussels late Friday. Western diplomats declined to disclose details of either the letter or a phone conversation Solana had earlier in the day with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili.

However, both sides described Iran’s response as positive.

“The content of the letter is going to be read and analyzed before we respond to the Iranians,” said a European diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “More will be known in the coming days.”

Iranian media reports said the two sides agreed to resume negotiations by the end of the Iranian month of Tir, which falls on July 21. But no European official could confirm such a timeline.

“The conversation was constructive,” Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for Solana, said in an e-mail. “All the noises are positive.”

Iran faces the prospect of a fourth round of United Nations Security Council sanctions if it refuses to stop enrichment of uranium, a process that can produce fuel for a power plant or, if highly concentrated, explosive material for a nuclear bomb.

The Iranian government insists that its intentions are peaceful, but the West alleges otherwise. Backed by the United States and other world powers, Solana last month delivered a package of proposed economic and political incentives in an effort to persuade Tehran to stop enrichment.

Iran has offered its own package as a basis for compromise. But it does not mention the possibility of halting enrichment.

Iran is also considering a proposal from Solana under which it would stop adding new uranium-processing centrifuges and the West would refrain from pushing for sanctions during a six-week period before negotiations.

Fears of a military confrontation between Iran and the United States or Israel have contributed to rising oil prices, which have reached record highs.

In an interview published Friday, the chief of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard said his country would consider an attack on its nuclear installations the beginning of a larger confrontation.

“Any action against Iran will be considered the start of war,” said Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

But while Iranian military officials have been painting dire scenarios in case of military action, diplomats have dramatically softened their rhetoric on the nuclear issue even as Iran refuses to budge on the key issue of enrichment.

Some critics in the U.S. say Iran is trying to run out the clock on the Bush administration without moving on enrichment, a strategy with which many Iranians concur.

“Further talks imply less pressure, fewer sanctions, lowered risk of war and a sort of grace period,” said Nader Karimi Jouri, editor in chief of Siasat Rooz, or Today’s Politics, a daily often critical of the government’s handling of economic matters.

Iran’s mixture of inflammatory rhetoric and diplomatic finesse may reflect internal power struggles, with several conservative camps positioning themselves for the 2009 presidential elections.

For years, Iran has insisted on uranium enrichment as a basic right. Backing down would expose conservative politicians such as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or his rival, parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, to attacks by the hard-right press and conservative religious groups, such as the Basij militia.

“The major issue here will be how to deliver an answer which will be somewhat of a U-turn compared to previous rhetoric and can be politically marketed,” said Michel Makinsky, an Iran expert at the Poitiers School of Business and Management in France.

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daragahi@latimes.com

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Special correspondent Mostaghim reported from Tehran and Times staff writer Daragahi from Beirut.