By Daisy Ayliffe - 5th June 2006
Europe's foreign policy chief Javier Solana has traveled to Iran to present an international package to end the crisis over the country’s nuclear programme.
Solana arrived in Tehran on Monday to deliver details of an incentive package of “carrots and sticks” aimed at resolving the dispute.
"We are prepared to travel to Tehran to present, in the name of the participants of the meeting in Vienna last Thursday, the far-reaching proposals that were agreed.” a European commission spokeswoman said in a statement.
“It will not be a negotiating trip. It will be a presentational trip."
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said after the meeting in Vienna that the Iran proposals covered three aspects - Iran's nuclear programme, trade and economic cooperation with Tehran, and security guarantees.
Lavrov said the Vienna gathering had agreed the UN security council would take no action against Iran if it halted its uranium enrichment activities in compliance with decisions by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
But despite the agreement, Iran’s supreme leader has insisted there is no international consensus on Iran policy.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments have highlighted the challenge ahead for the world community in trying to persuade Iran to give up uranium enrichment.
Khamenei has dismissed the promise of fuel supplies to Iran’s nuclear plants from abroad, which is said to be part of the international offer.
No “honest” official, he said, would agree to give up nuclear technology and beg western nations for energy.
Khamenei then raised the diplomatic stakes further by warning that energy supplies could be disrupted if the US made a “mistake” against his people.
“If Americans make a mistake about Iran, the flow of energy from this region will definitely be jeopardised,” Khamenei said in a speech.
But Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, on Sunday played down the leader’s threats, saying Iran depended heavily on oil revenues.
Khamenei did not specifically mention last week’s US offer of talks with Iran if it agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and processing activities - but he did refer to a “recent message from Americans”, describing it as “rude, cheap and full of foolish arrogance.”
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