Iran rejects demand for July 5 response deadline

Iran’s foreign minister today rejected Western demands to respond by next week to an international offer to bargain over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his nation had questions about the proposal, made on June 6, that needed to be settled in talks expected early next month with Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief.

“The response of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the proposed package will be clear and substantive but … the proposed package contains questions and ambiguities which must be clear,” he said.

Mottaki was specifically asked about a statement from the Group of Eight industrialised nations that they expect Iran to reply by next week, but he brushed it aside.

“The time until August is not a long time for such a response, that’s very natural and normal,” he said.