AFP: Iran's ambassador to the European Union presented Tuesday a new package of proposals aimed at solving the world's "collective challenges", including nuclear energy, a statement said.
BRUSSELS (AFP) — Iran's ambassador to the European Union presented Tuesday a new package of proposals aimed at solving the world's "collective challenges", including nuclear energy, a statement said.
Aliasghar Khaji gave the package "on the management of global challenges" to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana during talks on Tuesday, the embassy statement said.
The proposals contained "the points of view of our country toward the great global difficulties on several political, security, economic and energy levels, and on the question of the peaceful use of nuclear energy," it said.
Earlier, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Tehran was ready to talk to world powers about global problems but ruled out any negotiations over Tehran's nuclear "rights".
Iran insists it has the right to enrich uranium to make nuclear fuel and has so far defied UN Security Council resolutions which demand a halt to the work, amid fears it has been trying to make an atom bomb.
Highly enriched uranium can also make the fissile core of a bomb but Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and has vehemently denied allegations of seeking to make weapons.
Permanent Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany have agreed on a "reviewed and updated" offer made to Iran in 2006, including economic, security and technological rewards.
Solana has been responsible for trying to establish high-level talks aimed at getting Iran to accept those incentives, but Tehran refuses to suspend enrichment as a precondition for any negotiations.
His spokeswoman, Cristina Gallach, confirmed that a meeting with the ambassador had indeed taken place Tuesday but that the proposals "are not focused on the nuclear" standoff.
"We're going to study them," she said.
Gallach explained that the six world powers were currently discussing "the ways of presenting" their offer to Iran.
Iran's new package, in light of this, could appear to be a diplomatic counter-offensive.
No details of the Iranian offer have yet been made public, although Russia has said it wants Iran to suspend uranium enrichment during talks on the proposal.
A separate statement from the embassy on Friday said the package was also aimed at addressing problems in the Middle East, the fight against terrorism and the illicit drug trade.
Khaji has announced a press conference for Wednesday to explain the proposals in greater detail.
