World major countries negotiating with Iran have agreed on a revamped offer of incentives to try to coax the country into rolling back its disputed nuclear program, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Friday.
"We've got an agreement on an offer that will be made to the government of Iran," Miliband said following a meeting of foreign ministers of five permanent members of the UN Security Council and of Germany held in London.
The British foreign secretary said that the details of the offer could not be revealed so far.
Miliband said the ministers have just had a "positive and productive meeting" to talk about the next steps in "our approach to the grave problem that we see in respect of Iran's nuclear program."
"Firstly, we are united in our belief that the threat posed by this enrichment program to stability is very serious and it's one that we want to address directly," Miliband said in a statement on behalf of the ministers after the meeting.
"Secondly, we are united in our determination to pursue a twin- track strategy. Last month, at our instigation the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1803 setting out a range of sanctions, the third set of sanctions against Iran," he said.
"But we've always been clear that should be accompanied by an offer to Iran showing the benefits of engagement and cooperation with the international community. And our meeting today has been dedicated towards taking the offer that we made in June 2006, reviewing it and updating it, and I'm glad to say that we've got agreement on an offer that will be made to the government of Iran, " Miliband said.
He said the parties will be transmitting that offer to the government of Iran, hoping that the Iranian government will recognize the seriousness and the sincerity with which the parties approached this issue and that Iran will respond "in a timely manner" to the suggestions that the parties made.
The six parties have previously promised to sweeten the package of political, security and economic incentives they put on the table in June 2006 if Iran suspends its enrichment of uranium.
The incentives offered in 2006 included an offer by the United States to provide Iran with peaceful nuclear technology, lift some sanctions and conduct direct negotiations with Tehran.
(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2008)
