The United States, Russia and other industrial democracies said Thursday they
expect Iran to answer "yes" or "no" next week to an international offer to
bargain over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
![Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures during a meeting with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, unseen, in Tehran, on Tuseday June 27, 2006. [AP]](xin_16060329214074141725.jpg)
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures
during a meeting with Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, unseen, in
Tehran, on Tuseday June 27, 2006. [AP] |
"We are disappointed in the absence of an official Iranian response to this
positive proposal," said a statement from foreign ministers of the Group of
Eight industrial nations. "We expect to hear a clear and substantive Iranian
response to these proposals" at the meeting scheduled July 5 between the
European Union's foreign minister and Iran's nuclear negotiator.
The international coalition that made the offer to Iran this month "will
assess the situation before mid-July," the statement said. Leaders of the Group
of Eight industrial nations will meet in Russia July 15-17, and are expected to
consider the Iran situation.
The G-8 diplomats also condemned the abduction of an Israeli soldier in the
Gaza Strip and asked the Palestinian government to "take immediate measures" to
free him. The group asked Israel "to exercise utmost restraint in the current
crisis. The detention of elected members of the Palestinian government and
Legislature raises particular concern."
Israeli troops arrested dozens of ministers and lawmakers from the
Palestinians' elected Hamas leadership Thursday.
The United States has not issued its own separate response, but Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice signed on to the joint statement, which is a coded
criticism of Israel.
At a news conference following lengthy meetings with the diplomats from
Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, France, Canada
and Japan, Rice noted the call for restraint from Israel.
"With restraint, perhaps, we can get back to a place where there are hopes
again for a peace process," Rice said.
On Iran, the G-8 diplomats called Tehran's nuclear program "a source of
international concern," and endorsed the offer to Iran to accept economic
incentives in return for swearing off disputed aspects of the program, which
Tehran claims is peaceful.
"An agreement of this sort would allow the Iranian people to enjoy the
benefits of modern civil nuclear power and would bring Iran many other long-term
political and economic advantages," the G-8 ministers' statement said.
The ministers also discussed world hotspots including North Korea, Iraq,
Afghanistan and the Balkans.
On Iraq, they offered support to the new permanent Iraqi government and
commended its new national reconciliation initiative, which some U.S.
politicians have criticized as too accommodating toward
insurgents.
