EU's Solana with Saeed Jalili
Photo; AP
US, UK: Iran must give clear reply or face sanctions
State Department warns Tehran it could face punitive measures if incentives offer rejected, says Iran 'has a clear choice of engagement or isolation.' UK joins call, demands 'unambiguous and positive' reply
Iran faces more punitive measures, including sanctions, if it does not respond positively to an offer by major powers to rein in its nuclear program in exchange for incentives, the US State Department said on Monday.
"We agreed in the absence of a clear, positive response from Iran that we have no choice but to pursue further measures against Iran as part of this strategy," department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters.
Major powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - laid down an informal deadline to Iran of two weeks, which expired over the weekend, to respond to an offer of trade and technical incentives to halt enrichment.
"Iran has a clear choice of engagement or isolation," Gallegos added.
He said Washington was disappointed Tehran had not yet responded formally to the offer but he said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had been promised by Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili that a written reply would be made by Tuesday.
Gallegos said the package of incentives contained "everything" Iran needed to pursue a modern, civilian nuclear power program. Major powers suspect Iran's current nuclear program is aimed at building an atomic bomb while Iran says it is for peaceful power purposes.
"The pressure on Iran to comply with the demands of the international community and its UNSC (UN Security Council) obligations will only grow," Gallegos said.
The United Nations has imposed three sets of sanctions against Iran in a standoff over its nuclear program and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned of more punitive measures if Iran does not curb its nuclear program.
Meanwhile Britain also said on Monday it would back more UN sanctions on Iran if it fails to give an "unambiguous and positive" answer by Tuesday to the offer.
Washington broke with its usual isolation policy toward Tehran and attended a meeting with Iran's nuclear negotiator in Geneva last month at which the two-week deadline was made over the offer.
Iran dismissed the deadline set by Western capitals. Before a telephone call between Iran's chief atomic negotiator Saeed Jalili and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, an Iranian official said Iran would not discuss the freeze. A European Union official said the telephone call was "not conclusive"
