Iran Says Incentives Proposal Needs Study

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, center, meets with German ambassador Baron Paul Von Maltzahn, right, in Iran. (Hasan Sarbakhshian - AP)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting in Germany with French President Jacques Chirac, urged Tehran to respond positively to the incentives, saying that they show the world's interest in the success of "a modern Iran" and its sincerity in seeking a diplomatic solution.

"I hope that Iran shows a positive reaction and understands that there is a broad interest in a diplomatic solution to this conflict," she said.

Chirac echoed Merkel's hopes that the package would bring progress.

"We truly hope ... that we can reach an accord that respects the demands of the IAEA toward Iran," he said, referring to the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, which has demanded Iran once again suspend its enrichment of uranium, a process that can create fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a bomb.

Mottaki told Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso by phone that Tehran would "seriously study" the incentives, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.

Mottaki also said Iran had the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, the ministry said in a statement.

He added that the United States was to blame for the lack of trust between Washington and Tehran, and said he felt the international community shared Iran's distrust of the U.S., according to the statement.

Iran says its nuclear development is for peaceful production of nuclear energy, but Washington, the European Union and others accuse Tehran of covertly trying to build a nuclear arsenal.

In recent days, Iran's leadership has alternated between talking tough and signaling it is open to negotiations _ perhaps an attempt to portray to the Iranian public that it is not backing down even as it considers reversing its refusal to suspend enrichment.

Additionally, the U.S. offer to join in direct talks with Iran might have taken Tehran's top officials off-guard.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, normally a hard-line critic of the United States who insists that Tehran has a right to enrichment, said over the weekend that a breakthrough in negotiations was possible and welcomed the U.S. offer to join talks, while rejecting preconditions.

But threats by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to disrupt the world's oil supply if Tehran is punished over its nuclear program reflected Tehran's nervousness.

Although other Iranian officials have repeatedly ruled out using oil as weapon, his comments propelled oil prices to $73 a barrel Monday. Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

___

Associated Press Writer George Jahn contributed to this report from Vienna, Austria.