Iran wants "unconditional" talks
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-16 16:26
Iran wants to hold "unconditional" talks with Western powers on a package of
incentives and penalties aimed at inducing it to abandon its nuclear program,
its deputy foreign minister said on Friday.
"We are convinced that it (the package) contains a lot of positive elements
but a lot them are still unclear to us and raise questions," Deputy Foreign
Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi told reporters, speaking through a Russian
interpreter during a trip to the Kazakh city of Almaty.
"We are convinced that talks are very important but certainly talks must be
unconditional," he said. "There are a number of questions that need to be
resolved through talks."
Speaking earlier in Shanghai, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the
package was a positive step, but gave no hint as to when he might formally
respond to it.
"We are still considering the package and will very soon announce our
position," Araghchi said.
The West believes Iran's uranium enrichment could be used to make nuclear
weapons, but Tehran insists it is purely for energy-generation and civilian use.
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