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The White House says it is still waiting for a
definitive response from Iran to a package of incentives designed to
convince Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment. Officials say the latest
comments from Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are not the
last word.
White House Spokesman Tony Snow
says the Ayatollah's comments are ambiguous, and should not be seen as a formal reply from Iran.
He says there have been all sorts of statements coming from Tehran
since the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, delivered
the incentive package to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Lairjani.
"We have been pretty clear here," he said. "The original set of
incentives was transmitted from Javier Solana to Ali Larijani. And we
expect Ali Larijani to submit, transmit the response to Javier Solana."
During a session with reporters, Snow acknowledged that Khamenei holds
considerable power in Iran. But he stressed that the United States is
still waiting for a consistent, official response from Tehran.
"At this point the government of Iran has not spoken with one official
voice and I daresay that various people speaking on behalf of the
government of Iran have not spoken with a unified voice," he said.
The Ayatollah said Tuesday that Iran will not engage in negotiations on
its right to use nuclear technology. However, he added if others
acknowledge that right, Tehran is willing to negotiate controls,
supervisions, and international guarantees.
Iran has said it will respond to the package put forward June 6 by the
five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany by August
22. However, the Bush administration has made clear it wants an answer
sooner, and that Iran should reply in a matter of weeks, not months.
Iran maintains its nuclear program is designed to meet energy needs.
But the United States and its European allies say they are concerned
Tehran's civilian program is really a cover for the development of nuclear
arms.
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