TEHRAN/WASHINGTON, Aug 5: Iran has not answered demands by world powers to halt nuclear activity, an Iranian official said on Tuesday, a stand that could endanger the possibility of full talks and lead to tighter sanctions.
Iran handed a letter on Tuesday to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana in response to an offer in June by major powers to refrain from moving to impose more UN penalties if Iran froze expansion of its nuclear work.
“We have received the letter,” an EU official said in Brussels, without giving details.One European diplomat said that the contents of the letter were “laughable” but also declined to give details.
An Iranian official told Reuters the letter did not address the demands by world powers dealing with Iran — the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany.
“The letter handed over is not an answer to the offered package. The letter does not mention the freeze-for-freeze issue,” the Iranian official said.
The freeze-for-freeze idea was seen as a stepping stone to full negotiations.
CONFERENCE CALL: Senior officials from the major powers will hold a conference call on Wednesday to discuss whether to impose more punitive measures against Tehran, a US State Department spokesman said.
“If we don’t receive a clear message from them, we will have no choice but to pursue additional measures,” spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said.
The Iranian official said the freeze idea was also not raised in telephone talks on Monday between Solana and Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili.
“During the call, Jalili expressed his readiness to start formal talks,” the official said, adding he expected further contact between Solana and Jalili in the next few days.
In another development, a UN nuclear watchdog official will go to Iran on Thursday. The International Atomic Energy Agency declined to specify the purpose of the visit by Olli Heinonen, its deputy director overseeing inspections of Iran’s nuclear program.
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday the country could easily close the Strait of Hormuz, a key Gulf shipping route, if it were attacked over its nuclear program — prompting a warning on Tuesday from the United States.
“Shutting down the straits and closing off the Persian Gulf would be a sort of a self-defeating exercise,” said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.
“I don’t think it’s in Iran’s interest,” he told reporters. “They have a very weak economy at this point, which depends almost entirely on their oil revenue.”
The six powers have said formal talks on the package of nuclear, trade and other incentives can start only once Iran suspends uranium enrichment, the part of the program that most worries the West because it has military and civilian uses.
Iran has repeatedly refused to halt its atomic work. The UN Security Council has imposed three rounds of penalties on Iran since 2006 in response.
COVERING TRACKS: In a letter to the Council, Britain, France and the United States, who have taken the toughest line with Tehran, said Iran’s central bank and other financial institutions were trying to dodge sanctions by covering their tracks and must be carefully watched.
Iran’s central bank governor, Tahmasb Mazaheri, said that in July that any move to impose sanctions on the bank could destabilise an already rattled world financial system.
His remarks followed a call by a US Senate committee for Washington to designate Iran’s central bank as a supporter of terrorism, a move that would trigger US sanctions.
UN and US sanctions have already targeted some big Iranian commercial banks.—Reuters
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