Iran Allows Solana to Visit Tehran to Deliver Nuclear Proposals

May 20 — Iran has agreed to a trip by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana to deliver a package of incentives aimed at persuading the country to suspend uranium enrichment, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said.

Mottaki didn’t say when Solana will arrive in Tehran with the latest proposals for Iran’s nuclear program from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, according to the state-run Fars news agency.

The U.S., the U.K., France, Russia and China, which have veto power at the UN Security Council, were joined by Germany on May 2 in revising an incentive plan developed in 2006. Measures in the initial package included an offer to provide Iran with enriched uranium for power stations in exchange for suspension of its own enrichment efforts. The enhancements to the package haven’t been made public.

Iran says its nuclear program is needed to produce fuel for power stations, while the U.S. and its allies allege the project is being used as cover for the development of an atomic weapon. Enriched uranium can be used to generate electricity or to make nuclear warheads.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on May 13 that he won’t put Iran’s ``right’’ to carry out uranium enrichment on its own soil ``up for negotiations.’’ Iran is a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

By Ladane Nasseri

Source: Bloomberg