Iran responds to world powers' nuclear offer

Iran on Friday handed world powers its "constructive and creative" response to their letter presenting proposals to end the five-year standoff over its contested nuclear program, top officials said.

"The Islamic republic has prepared and presented a response to the letter of the six countries with a constructive and creative view and a focus on common ground," state television quoted top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili as saying.

A spokeswoman for the EU's Javier Solana later confirmed that the response had been delivered Friday evening in a letter to the European Union's foreign policy chief and to the foreign ministers of the six countries that submitted the offer. She gave no details of the letter.

The spokeswoman, Cristina Gallach, had earlier said Solana had held "positive" talks with the Iranian side.

Last month Solana gave Iran a letter from the six foreign ministers and a package offering Tehran technology and negotiations if it suspends uranium enrichment, which the West fears could be used to make atomic weapons.

'A positive conversation'

The semi-official Mehr news agency on Friday quoted an informed source as saying that the response to Solana was handed over by Iran's ambassador to Brussels.

Jalili did not elaborate on the contents of the Iranian response, nor did he say if it would be a simple "yes or no" answer to the package offered or something vaguer.

The source quoted by Mehr said the response was specifically to the world powers' letter, implying there could be another response to the package attached to the letter.

Jalili also said both sides had agreed that talks would be held again by the end of the current Iranian month of Tir, which ends in two weeks, without elaborating.

Gallach said: "They had a positive, constructive conversation. They agreed to remain in contact." She said Jalili said the response would contain "more concrete elements" but stressed that "some time will be needed to analyze it."