BEIRUT — A European proposal to ease the West's nuclear standoff with Iran includes an offer for talks with the Iranians as long as they do not expand their current ability to enrich uranium, Western diplomats say.
Iran has not formally responded to the proposal made last week, nicknamed "freeze for freeze," which would create a six-week period during which the European Union, Russia, China and the United States would refrain from pushing for additional sanctions against Iran.
Tehran, in turn, would stop adding uranium-enriching centrifuges at its facility in the town of Natanz. However, during the preliminary talks it would not be required to end enrichment altogether, a step the Bush administration has been seeking as a condition for negotiations.
The proposal is meant to head off the confrontation over Iran's nuclear program, which has been the subject of four United Nations Security Council resolutions sponsored by Western nations and three rounds of sanctions as well as escalating rhetoric that has contributed to war jitters and record oil prices.
"If it doesn't work, of course, sanctions are still in mind," said a Western diplomat in Europe, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Iranians shouldn't have any illusions because at one point there will be more sanctions."
European foreign policy chief Javier Solana informally floated a version of the idea to Iranians during talks last year, said a diplomat. Solana submitted a formal and detailed written proposal to Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili during a visit to Tehran last weekend, said diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Jalili told Solana that Iranian leaders would consider the proposal, a diplomat said.
Solana offered Iran a package of political, economic and security incentives in exchange for Tehran halting its enrichment of uranium ore, a process used to create fuel for a power plant but which can also make fissile material for an atomic bomb. The U.S. and the West, along with most arms control experts, suspect Iran's enrichment program is the cornerstone for a potential weapons program.
Iran insists its program is for civilian energy purposes, and despite U.N. sanctions, it has refused to stop enrichment. The U.S. has been pushing for a fourth round of sanctions, which the Security Council could take up by late July.
