AFP: Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Iran on Tuesday to accept an international plan for resolving the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear project and to start negotiations as soon as possible, preferably before the G8 summit next week.
MOSCOW, July 4, 2006 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Iran on Tuesday to accept an international plan for resolving the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear project and to start negotiations as soon as possible, preferably before the G8 summit next week.
“We very much want our Iranian partners to accept the offer from the six countries in order to start negotiations as quickly as possible,” Putin said in Moscow.
“We would very much like them to start before the (G8) summit in Saint Petersburg. Apparently this is not possible, so we need to understand when this could happen.”
Putin was speaking on the eve of a meeting between European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.
Pressure is growing on Iran to respond to the plan put forward by Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States, which offers economic and political incentives in return for Iran suspending uranium enrichment.
Some Western countries fear that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian atomic energy programme. The government in Tehran maintains that it only wants to generate electricity.
Early signs are that Iran is resisting pressure for an early response. Larijani was quoted on Tuesday as saying Tehran might reply by early August.
