Vienna meet on Iran package this week

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany will meet in Vienna later this week in hopes of approving a package of incentives and penalties meant to persuade Iran to give up uranium enrichment

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany will meet in Vienna later this week in hopes of approving a package of incentives and penalties meant to persuade Iran to give up uranium enrichment, diplomats said on Monday. The diplomats, who demanded anonymity for divulging the confidential information said the meeting will take place on Thursday.

The meeting is a follow-up on talks in London last Wednesday, where senior representatives of the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany said they made good progress in efforts to find common ground on rewarding Iran if it gives up uranium enrichment or punishing it if it doesn8217;t.

The foreign ministers of the six nations would have to give final approval to the package. Then it would formally be presented to Tehran by France, Britain and Germany8212;the three European nations who broke off similar talks with Iran in August after it resumed activities linked to uranium enrichment, which can be used to make the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

Iran, which insists it has a right to the technology to make nuclear fuel, has repeatedly said nothing can make it relinquish its fledgling enrichment programme.

In Malaysia, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said 8216;8216;the main incentive is to recognise the essential right of Iran to have nuclear technology. The time of issuing threats to other nations is over. Selective approach to humanitarian issues is over.8217;8217; 8212;GEORGE JAHN

P-5 ready to guarantee Iran8217;s nuclear right

Moscow: Russia said on Monday that the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany were prepared to guarantee Iran8217;s right to peaceful nuclear energy if it answered all questions raised by the IAEA.

8216;8216;We are interested in involving Iran in full-scale economic cooperation and also in security cooperation in the region,8217;8217; said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

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8216;8216;We are ready at the same time to guarantee Iran the right to develop its civilian nuclear programme on the condition that all issues that the IAEA previously had to Iran will be resolved and Iran respects its obligations under the NPT and the protocol to the IAEA Convention,8217;8217; Lavrov added. 8212;Dadan Upadhyay