Iran Softens Rhetoric Over Nuclear Deal

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, praised on Friday a six-nation incentive package aimed at resolving the international dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme.

Raising hopes for a breakthrough, Mr Ahmadinejad said the package - which aims to curtail Iran's uranium enrichment activities - was a "step forward".

But despite the conciliatory tone of his comments, the president said his government had made no decision about whether to accept the proposal, which is backed by the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.

"Generally speaking, we're regarding this offer as a step forward and I have instructed my colleagues to carefully consider it," he told reporters in Shanghai. "In due time they will give the response."

Under the package proposal, the EU has offered to provide trade and economic benefits to Iran in return for a halting of its nuclear programme. On the table is also a transfer of peaceful nuclear technologies, airplane parts and support for Iran to join the World Trade Organisation.

The package is supported by the US, which believes that Iran is enriching uranium so that it can produce enough high-grade fissile material for warheads.

Last month, Washington offered Iran the first face-to-face talks between the two sides in more than 25 years, but it has also threatened to seek UN sanctions against Tehran if it continues its enrichment activities.

On Friday, the top US delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Gregory Schulte, warned that if Iran rejected the incentives, it could face "the weight of the security council".

Mr Ahmadinejad denied that his country's nuclear program had a military application. "Sanctions shouldn't be used as a form of intimidation against countries of the world," he said.

The Iranian president is in Shanghai for a summit of central Asian nations, where he has taken the opportunity to press Tehran's case with the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Both countries support the package and oppose US attempts to bring the issue to the security council.

After bilateral talks with Mr Ahmadinejad, Mr Putin said Iran has the right to nuclear technology if it poses no concern to the rest of the world. Mr Hu said he had urged the Iranian president to accept the proposal. Beijing is particularly keen to see a peaceful resolution of the dispute because Iran is the third biggest supplier of the crude oil that China needs to fuel its booming economy.

Whether Mr Ahmadinejad maintains his conciliatory tone after he leaves China remains to be seen. Iran continues to send out mixed signals. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appeared to maintain a hardline approach in his latest reported comments.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not succumb to these pressures," state television quoted Khamenei as saying.