Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani kept mum yesterday on the international proposals on the Iranian nuclear issue.

 

He would not say whether Tehran would respond soon to the proposals drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the US -- plus Germany.

 

The US and the EU were pressing for a reply by July 15 when a summit of the Group of Eight most industrialized countries takes place in St Petersburg, Russia. But Tehran has said it would not respond until August 22.

 

Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, met EU foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana last night.

 

"We are serious about continuing negotiations and will start next Tuesday our talks," he told reporters upon arrival at the meeting in Brussels.

 

Asked whether he had brought with him an initial answer to the proposals, he simply said through an interpreter: "We will talk about it on Tuesday."

 

Tehran and the EU will start detailed talks on Tuesday in Paris, which are expected to be followed by consultations of the foreign ministers of the six countries that have drawn up the package. The Iranians are not expected to participate in the consultations on Wednesday.

 

The package was designed to lure Iran to a suspension of uranium enrichment, a crucial step in the nuclear fuel cycle to make atomic bombs, in return for political and economic incentives and nuclear technological assistance.

 

But Tehran has insisted no precondition shall be attached to the negotiations.

 

Iran resumed uranium enrichment-related activities in January. As a result, the EU suspended talks and sought to bring the issue before the UN Security Council.

 

Larijani postponed his trip to Brussels by one day, reportedly to protest the visit of an Iranian exile group leader to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

 

Solana, who traveled to Tehran to present the package on June 6, said Wednesday that he was surprised at the delay.

 

The US accuses Iran of a secret program to produce nuclear weapons. Iran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2006)