White House Dismisses Iran's Conditional Enrichment Offer

The White House on Tuesday rejected as unserious a proposal by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said Iran would suspend uranium enrichment only if Western nuclear powers did the same. Spokesman Tony Snow questioned the sincerity of the offer without elaborating further.

Ahmadinejad had earlier told a crowd in Rasht that Tehran would not comply with a UN Security Council deadline set for Friday requiring Iran to halt its uranium enrichment activities.

Snow said Washington was awaiting a report from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei, due by Friday, on whether Iran had met the council's demand. That finding would then be taken up at an IAEA board of governors meeting on 6 March and could open the door to stronger sanctions against Tehran.

The spokesman drew a clear line between civilian and military nuclear ambitions: the US had no objection to Iran developing nuclear power for electricity generation, but firmly opposed any path that could lead to nuclear weapons capability.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in February 2007, in its own words.