Iran delivers proposals on global problems to UN
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran on Wednesday delivered to UN chief Ban Ki-moon a package of proposals aimed at solving global challenges, including the nuclear issue, state media reported.
The "incentives package" was handed over after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Tehran was ready to talk to world powers about global problems but ruled out any negotiations over Tehran's nuclear "rights".
The EU, which has also received the proposals, said they could be a "counter-offensive" by Iran to a package of incentives drawn up by world powers to try to persuade Tehran to halt controversial nuclear work.
The package contains "seven solutions on the (global) nuclear issue," the media director of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ahmad Khadem-olmella was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
It has also been sent also to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the Swiss foreign minister, and will soon be delivered to the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.
Iran's ambassador to the European Union Aliasghar Khaji said on Tuesday that the proposals contained "the points of view of ourcountry toward the great global difficulties on several political, security, economic and energy levels, and on the question of the peaceful use of nuclear energy."
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.
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.
Later Wednesday, state news agency IRNA reported that three days of talks between representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran had ended in Tehran.
There was no information on what the outcome of those talks were, or whether further ones were scheduled.
