WASHINGTON — The United States and Europe on Friday, September 11, poured cold water on Iran's latest nuclear offer, considering it irrelevant and offering nothing new.
"It is not really responsive to our greatest concern, which is obviously Iran's nuclear program," Philip Crowley, US assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
A senior State Department official added that the offer has nothing new.
"There's nothing really new in the package itself," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Tehran on Wednesday handed over to six world powers a new package of proposals to help resolve the stalemate over its nuclear drive.
In the offer, Tehran expressed readiness to hold talks over nuclear disarmament as well as the use of "clean nuclear energy."
The offer, however, did not address Tehran’s own nuclear program.
Though it did not name Israel, Tehran said it wanted to embark on talks for a future "free from double standards" from all nations involved.
The package also calls for a broad range of cooperation in promoting regional and international security as well as fighting drug smuggling, terrorism and organized crime.
"This does not provide an answer to the nuclear questions," Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said in Brussels Friday.
"The document is more focused on global questions than on nuclear ones."
The West accuses Tehran of developing a secret nuclear weapons program.
Iran insists that its nuclear program only aims at procuring power to feed an increasing local consumption.
Options
The West said that it is now considering options towards Iran as the deadline set for it to start talks over the nuclear drive is nearing.
"We'll be looking to see how... ready Iran is to actually engage," Crowley, the US assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said.
The diplomat said Washington would talk again Friday with its partners in the so-called P5-plus-1 -- the five permanent veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany – to discuss the Iranian issue.
"And we will be testing that willingness to engage in the next few weeks."
Gallach, the spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said the six had already agreed to hold an urgent meeting to mull the available options in dealing with Iran.
The world powers have given Tehran a late September deadline to begin negotiations with them about its nuclear program or face more sanctions.
Tehran is already under three sets of UN sanctions.
The US and its ally Israel have never ruled out the option of carrying out air strikes to prevent Iran over its nuclear program.
"(An attack on Iran) would be very dangerous, unacceptable, this would lead to an explosion of terrorism, increase the influence of extremists," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Friday as media revealed that Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu had paid a secret trip to Moscow last week to discuss attacking Iran.
"I doubt very much that such strikes would achieve their stated goal."
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