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Iran ponders nuclear counter-offer
QUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Iran's top diplomat on Saturday said Iran is pondering a counter-offer to the package of incentives devised by world powers attempting to persuade Iran to cease nuclear development. "We hope that shuttle diplomacy will lead to a genuine proposal from the Islamic Republic that could possibly be sent to European counterparts as an amendment or a counter-package and that will be assessed by Europeans carefully," said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. The package, which also contains disincentives if Iran won't comply, was developed by the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, and was carried to Tehran a few days ago by Javier Solana, foreign policy chief for the European Union. The Islamic republic says it wants to pursue nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but the United States and the European Union believe it harbors aspirations to build nuclear weapons. President Bush on Friday repeated warnings of what Iran can expect if it fails to suspend its uranium enrichment program and accept the package. "We've given the Iranians a limited period of time -- weeks not months. ... If they choose not to verifiably suspend their program then there will be action taken in the U.N. Security Council," Bush said. "If they choose not to ... suspend verifiably, there must be a consequence. There must be a sense of urgency on our part to send a common message to them," he said. Bush's comments come in the wake of a tempered threat against Persian Gulf energy shipments recently made by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report 
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