The US Secretary of State has warned the Islamic Republic not to delay its answer to the package of incentives offered by the 5+1 Group.
"The Iranians should know that this is not going to be a matter that they can stall," Condoleezza Rice told reporters after she met with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Tuesday.
On July 19, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, accompanied by representatives of the 5+1 Group, held talks with Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in Geneva.
However, certain members of the 5+1 Group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) set a two-week deadline for Tehran after the meeting.
Thus, Iran is beginning to feel that the sextet was not negotiating in good faith, even though Solana and Jalili initially called the talks 'constructive'.
Asked if there was no satisfactory response from Iran, Rice said, "We have been very clear that we have two tracks - if one track is not working, then we are going to have to go to the other."
The UN Security Council has so far imposed three rounds of sanctions on Iran over its uranium enrichment program, caving in to pressure exerted by the US and Israel.
Tehran has always insisted that its nuclear program is only meant to generate electricity and that it has abided by terms of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Despite this and the fact IAEA inspectors have never found diversion in Iran's nuclear program, the US and some of its allies -- chief among them Israel -- are accusing Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons.
The US and Israel have even threatened to take military action against Iran over its nuclear program.
AGB/PA/PA