Diplomats: Solana to hand over 6-nation Iran package to Tehran on Tuesday

Iranian officials will meet Tuesday with a senior EU representative carrying a package of rewards and penalties meant to stop Tehran's uranium enrichment program, including new U.S. offers to lift bans on deliveries of some sensitive technologies, diplomats said.

Photo: Diplomats: Solana to hand over 6-nation Iran package to Tehran on Tuesday

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had been expected to present the proposal to Iranian officials some time this week, but the precise day had not been previously divulged.

Officials with Solana have stressed his mission was to present the package as is, adding he would not negotiate with the Iranians.

But returning from a visit to Oman, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters that the EU and Iran would launch what he termed "shuttle diplomacy" in an effort to overcome differences about Iran's nuclear program. He did not elaborate.

Mottaki said he and Iran's nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani would meet with Solana on Tuesday. Iran would then review the incentives package and respond. He gave no timetable.

"If there is the political will to solve Iran's nuclear issue without any attempt to politicize it, I think we can come to a comprehensive agreement," he said.

On arrival to Tehran late Monday from a three-day Middle East tour, Solana said the European Union and other nations backing the Iran proposal hoped for "a new relationship on the basis of mutual respect and trust."

The six-nation package offers economic and political incentives if Tehran relinquishes domestic enrichment, which is used to generate power but can also produce weapons-grade uranium for nuclear warheads.

The offer agreed on in Vienna on Friday by the U.S., Russia, France, Britain and China the five permanent U.N. Security Council nations plus Germany, also contains the implicit threat of U.N. sanctions if Iran remains defiant.

In a breakthrough last week, the United States agreed to join in multination talks on the package if Tehran suspends enrichment, reports AP.

O.Ch.