Iran Accepts Compromise Agenda At Nuclear Conference

The compromise opens the door to a discussion on compliance with nuclear rules.

The two-week conference in Vienna had been deadlocked since opening on April 30 as Iran, which the United States charges is secretly developing the atomic bomb, objected to an agenda item that called for full compliance with the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

Rice And Mottaki Comment

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Al-Arabiya television today that President George W. Bush will keep military options on the table as he seeks a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki today said Tehran opposes nuclear weapons and only wants nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Mottaki made the statement in Oslo at a news conference with his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Stoere.

On May 7, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said his talks recently with Iran on its disputed nuclear program are very difficult because Tehran does not want to suspend uranium enrichment.

"The situation, as you know, is very difficult, because what we are demanding from Iran is the suspension of their [uranium-enrichment] activities as long as the negotiations take place," Solana said. "I mean it's a sort of demand to start the negotiations, pure negotiations, with a level field. They will not continue at this point in the negotiations."

Solana said the only agreement he reached with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, during two days of talks in Ankara last month was to report back ideas they discussed and keep their channels of communication open.

(AFP, AP, Reuters)