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No quick Iranian reply on nuclear offer
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSMOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Iran and the world's leading industrialized democracies staked out conflicting positions Thursday on when Tehran should respond to a U.N. proposal concerning the country's nuclear program. The Western powers said Thursday they expected Iran's response to come by Wednesday, when the European Union's foreign minister, Javier Solana, and Iran's nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, meet, The Associated Press reported. But hours after that announcement, Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, said Tehran would not complete its review of the U.N. offer until August. Mottaki's comments are in line with those made earlier by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said he did not plan to respond to the U.N. proposal until August 22. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany are pressing Tehran to respond before the Group of Eight summit that starts July 15. "We are disappointed in the absence of an official Iranian response to this positive proposal," said a statement from G8 foreign ministers, as quoted by the AP. "We expect to hear a clear and substantive Iranian response to these proposals" at the July 5 Larijani-Solana meeting. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts from Russia, Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Canada and Italy were meeting in Moscow in a run-up to Russia's debut as host to leaders of the G8 nations next month. Thursday's meeting is a precursor to the annual G8 summit that will take place in St. Petersburg on July 15-17. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tuesday that talks with the United States held no benefits for the Islamic republic. (Full story) The permanent, veto-wielding members of the council -- the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia -- are offering Iran economic, technical and political incentives if it halts uranium enrichment. Tehran insists its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes, but Western countries suspect the Islamic republic is building a weapons program. At the Moscow meeting, diplomats also discussed the crises in Gaza and North Korea as well as Iran, a Western official told the AP on condition of anonymity. They reviewed other world troublespots, too, including Sudan, Iraq and Afghanistan, the official added, according to the AP. Before arriving in Russia for the one-day summit, Rice stopped in Pakistan and then headed to Afghanistan -- two key U.S. allies in the war on terrorism. (Full story) However, tensions have mounted between the two neighboring countries, which blame each other for a resurgence in Taliban fighters along each other's borders. Afghanistan does not think Pakistan is doing enough to control the border region, where Taliban fighters are believed to be crossing over in an attempt to recapture control of the country. Pakistan criticized Afghanistan for not giving its authorities direct reports of Taliban figures being harbored in Pakistan, instead passing the information through U.S. intelligence. Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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