Iran said Thursday it would formally respond on Aug. 22 to a Western package
of incentives aimed at resolving the standoff over its suspect nuclear
program - the first time the Islamic republic has set a specific date for
its reply.
The Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top security decision-making
body, also threatened that the country would reconsider its nuclear policies if
sanctions were imposed by the United Nations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
delivers a speech during a public gathering in his visit to the city of
Hamedan 200 miles (340 kilometers), southwest of the capital Tehran, Iran,
in this Wednesday, June 21, 2006 file photo.
[AP]
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The council did not elaborate, but Iranian officials repeatedly have
suggested that Tehran may withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and
stop cooperating with UN inspectors.
"The package of incentives requires a logical time to study it ... Aug. 22
has been set for declaring (our) views," the council said in a statement read on
state-run television.
"In case the path of confrontation is chosen instead of the path of dialogue
... and Iran's definite rights are threatened, then there will be no option for
Iran but to reconsider its nuclear policies."
The statement came a day after Russia said the UN Security Council is in no
rush to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, striking a more conciliatory
tone than the United States as diplomats began discussing a resolution to put
legal muscle behind demands that Tehran suspend uranium enrichment.
The United States and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking to produce
highly enriched uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons. Tehran says its
nuclear program is peaceful and aimed at generating electricity.
In Thursday's statement, Iran said it plans to generate 20,000 megawatts of
electricity through nuclear energy in the next 20 years.
The Western nations on June 6 offered Iran a package of incentives -
including advanced technology and possibly even nuclear research reactors -
if Tehran suspended enrichment.
But the frustrated powers agreed last week to send Iran back to the UN
Security Council for possible punishment, saying Tehran had given no sign it
would bargain in earnest over its nuclear ambitions.
Iran has said the incentives package was an "acceptable basis" for
negotiations.
Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad initially said Iran would respond to
the package in mid-August, but the republic then pushed back its response to
late August. Thursday's statement was the first time a specific date was set.