Tehran offers UN ‘Iranian package’

Michael Theodoulou, Foreign Correspondent

• Last Updated: June 19. 2008 10:42PM UAE / June 19. 2008 6:42PM GMT

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, delivered a blow to already slim hopes for a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis by declaring yesterday that the world's "bullying powers" had failed to break Iran's will.

He was addressing the issue for the first time since world powers at the weekend offered Iran a package of technological and economic incentives to resolve the stand-off - provided Tehran suspended uranium enrichment.

The offer was hand-delivered to Iran by Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, who said yesterday he had yet to receive a formal response. Mr Solana was acting on behalf of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - as well as Germany.

"In the nuclear issue, the bullying powers have used up all their capabilities but could not break the will of the Iranian nation," Mr Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state television.

Tehran has indicated it is treating the new offer as an opening negotiating gambit from the group rather than a take-it-or-leave it deal.

Hours before Mr Ahmadinejad spoke, Iran's foreign minister said Tehran was ready to negotiate over the incentives package. But Manouchehr Mottaki urged the group in return to consider an offer Tehran made last month to settle the dispute, which has met with a muted response.

"We have informed them of our readiness to negotiate. The package given by the group is currently under consideration and at the appropriate time Tehran will give its reactions," Mr Mottaki told a news conference in the Ugandan capital of Kampala yesterday. "We also have what we call the Iranian package, which we have sent to the group and we hope they consider it as we consider theirs," he said.

The British Foreign Office made clear yesterday that the group was not prepared to address the Iranian proposals unless Tehran first suspends uranium enrichment. A spokesman in London said: "We received the text of the Iranian suggestions for negotiations. We will now consider this with our colleagues and we will be prepared to discuss these proposals in detail once the conditions for full negotiations have been established."

Foremost in the package to Iran is a proposal to help the Islamic Republic develop a civilian nuclear programme with advanced light water reactors, which are regarded as less prone to diversion into bomb-making than the technology Tehran now has. There would also be legally binding guarantees to supply Iran with nuclear fuel and the normalisation of economic ties.

The offer is a revised version of one rejected by Iran in 2006, although some observers believe it contains an element that could address a paramount Iranian concern: assurances that the United States will not attempt to change the regime in Tehran. The relevant section reaffirms an obligation by unnamed countries under the UN charter to "refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state".

Whether that will reduce Iranian concerns about an attack by the United States or Israel is doubtful. The wording could equally refer to Mr Ahmadinejad's hostile rhetoric against the Jewish state, which he recently branded a "stinking corpse" and has repeatedly predicted is doomed to disappear.

"I don't think anyone sees that a serious American security guarantee," said Trita Parsee, the Washington-based author of Treacherous Alliance, a book on the secret dealings between Iran, Israel and the United States.

Another Iranian analyst said it was an indication of how "skewed" the western perspective had become if a reaffirmation of the America's obligations under the UN charter not to use "extralegal force is viewed as a major U-turn in American policy".

Tehran, in other words, would seek far more binding non-aggression guarantees from the United States before suspending uranium enrichment. A commitment from Washington that regime change is not an option appears most unlikely while Mr [George W] Bush is in office - or if he is succeeded by John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Iran's apparently pre-emptive offer, unveiled by Mr Mottaki last month, proposes to resolve the nuclear issue by "establishing enrichment and nuclear fuel production consortiums in different parts of the world - including Iran". Western diplomats said this fails to allay concerns about Iran's uranium enrichment.

Overall, the Iranian offer is broad in scope, proposing that Iran can contribute to "regional and international peace and security" in numerous fields ranging from combating terrorism, drugs trafficking and poverty to promoting energy security, free trade and democracy.

The wording of Iran's proposals underlines a confidence that the Islamic Republic believes it deserves the right to be regarded not only as a regional but a world player. Insisting that Iran is a "peace-loving nation", it suggests that co-operation with the group on "issues of mutual interest" can take place "in different parts of the world - more specifically in the Middle East, the Balkans, Africa and Latin America".

The Iranian offer also advocates co-operation on finding a "sustainable, democratic and fair" solution to the Palestinian issue. Observers have noted that the Iranian proposals eschew the usual hostile rhetoric about Israel: there is no reference to the "Zionist entity".

It was not surprising the group had not publicly responded to the Iranian proposals, said Mr Parsee, who is also president of the National Iranian American Council, which aims at promoting diplomacy to resolve disputes. "It's not an unfamiliar pattern. The West prefers to make offers and get Iran to say 'yes' or 'no'," he said. "If we want to negotiate, there has to be some give and take."

Taken together, the packages could lead to an opening, he argued. "This is a long-term process. We shouldn't have any expectations of an imminent breakthrough but there needs to be a conversation to see what opportunities exist or can be created," Mr Parsee said.

Given the leverage Iran perceives it has accrued from high oil prices, Tehran may well feel confident enough to wait for the outcome of the US elections in November. Then it may feel it is in a better position to decide whether Washington is prepared to provide what Mr Solana was apparently unable to deliver: firm guarantees that the United States will not attempt to change the Iranian regime and an acceptance of Iran's regional role.

"There's a view that Bush is a lame-duck president that neither the Iranians nor the Europeans have much faith in," Mr Parsee said.

mtheodoulou@thenational.ae