6 nations back new strategy on Iran

VIENNA -- The United States and five major world powers agreed yesterday to offer Iran ``far-reaching proposals" that would ``bring significant benefits" if it halts its drive to master nuclear power, but also threatened ``further steps in the Security Council" if Iran refused to enter negotiations.

The agreement, announced after extended negotiations by Margaret Beckett, Britain's foreign secretary, is intended to sharpen the choice for Iran in the debate over its nuclear program.

``We urge Iran to take the positive path and to consider seriously our substantive proposals which would bring significant benefits," Beckett said with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of Russia, China, France, and Germany at her side.

While details of the package were not announced, the incentives appeared to include an international effort to assist Iran's nuclear industry, including guarantees of long-term fuel assurances -- a significant shift of the Bush administration's long insistence that Iran had no need for nuclear power.

But aides to Rice said the deal also commits China and Russia, two skeptics of sanctions, to a long list of specific steps to punish Iran if it refuses to halt its enrichment program. The possible sanctions are listed as a menu, ranging from minor to major, and there appeared to be no agreement yet on which options to choose if Iran failed to act.

Beckett read the brief statement after the diplomats had huddled over it for two hours, fine-tuning the wording. It emphasized the positive, while using vague code words for rough action, which US officials said stemmed from a desire to persuade Iran to return to negotiations. US officials even repeatedly refused to characterize the possible punishments for Iran as sanctions, using such words as steps, measures, and actions.

``We are prepared to resume negotiations should Iran resume suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities as required by the IAEA, and we would also suspend action in the Security Council," Beckett said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Beckett did not disclose details of the package, saying that ``we will now be talking to the Iranians about our proposals."

The meeting in Vienna occurred a day after Rice announced in Washington that the United States would be willing to join nuclear talks if Iran suspended its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.

Officials said the policy shift was intended to reinvigorate a diplomatic process that was running aground. Iran had cut off talks with three European countries -- Britain, France, and Germany -- while Russia and China have been deeply skeptical of US efforts to seek a Security Council resolution threatening sanctions if Iran did not end its proscribed nuclear activities. Iran, meanwhile, appeared to be rapidly building up its nuclear capability.

Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, welcomed direct talks with Washington yesterday, but rebuffed a US proposal that Tehran must suspend uranium enrichment as a condition of such talks, Iran's state-run television reported.

US officials said they expected such a response from Iran but would not retreat from the demand that enrichment be suspended, which they said was nonnegotiable. Officials noted that the same demand is contained in IAEA and UN resolutions.

Before yesterday's meeting, diplomats said the countermeasures under discussion if Iran spurns the offer include an embargo on exports of goods and technologies relevant to nuclear programs, the freezing of assets of organizations, and a suspension of technical cooperation with the IAEA.

Broader measures include a freeze on bilateral contacts, a visa and travel ban on senior Iranian officials, an arms embargo, an embargo on certain exports, and ending support for Iran's bid to join the World Trade Organization.

To induce Iran to cooperate, the allies discussed supporting Iran's civil nuclear plans and suspending Iran's file at the Security Council. In a potential agreement with Iran, the allies would offer Iran participation in a Russian fuel cycle center and the establishment of a fuel bank to hold up to five years of fuel for Iran under the supervision of the IAEA.

Bush administration officials said Rice, the president, Vice President Dick Cheney, and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley first began discussing whether to make the offer to join the talks about two months ago.

``We knew it was a card we had to play at some point," one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The question was at what time and under what conditions, the official added.