Iran says it is ready to start “serious talks” with parties concerned over its nuclear program from Wednesday.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani made the remarks to envoys from China, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and Switzerland when he issued an official reply to a nuclear package backed by UN Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany.
However, Larijani has not specified whether Iran will suspend its uranium enrichment and made no comment on the deadline of uranium enrichment suspension set by the UN Security Council.
On the eve of Iran’s formal response to the package, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran would continue its nuclear energy work. Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Sa'eedi said that suspension of uranium enrichment was "practically impossible" even though the Security Council has made such a demand.
At the UN headquarters in New York, US Ambassador John Bolton says the US will "carefully" study Iran's latest response to the package.
"We are also prepared if it does not meet the terms set by the permanent five foreign ministers to proceed here in the Security Council, as ministers have agreed, with economic sanctions."
In June, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana presented Iran with the package agreed on by the six countries.
The package, designed to defuse the current tensions over Iran's nuclear program, includes both incentives aimed at persuading the country to suspend uranium enrichment and possible sanctions if it does not comply.
The Security Council has recently adopted a resolution urging Tehran to suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities by the end of this month or face the prospect of sanctions.
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Director: Liu Chi