New Incentives for Iran Rejected before Reception

In his recent joint press conference with Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr Abdullah El-Qorba, Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian Foreign Minister said that during visit with his British counterpart David Miliband in Kuwait, he has asked 5+1 not to cross the red lines in the packaged incentives they offer Iran.

 

What Iran means by "red lines" and violation of its national rights, is the cornerstone of 5+1 incentives; halting uranium enrichment. This has been repeatedly requested in all meetings between leaders, foreign ministers, and representatives of the group.

 

Asked if Iran will reject the new 5+1 offer if it again offers new incentives in return for uranium enrichment halt, Mottaki responded that Iran has not received the offer yet.

 

Last week in its London meeting, 5+1 decided to offer Iran a new package of incentives. David Miliband referred to a policy of enforcing UN sanctions against Iran, while tempting the country with a new set of carrots. The second option is to make Iran aware of the merits it can enjoy if it cooperates with the international community and to encourage the country to move in this course.

 

The British Foreign Minister also called the incentives an updated version of those offered in summer 2006. But this time only the Iranian government is going to be informed about the content of the package.

 

But while news is spread around the new incentives, Iranian officials have rejected reception of any new proposition, and they remain silent over its acception or rejection.

 

In his weekly press conference, Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini said that members of 5+1 have stated that they'll not disclose the package before it is delivered to Iranian officials. He added that Iran has yet not received anything officially and everything is just a speculation.

 

 

While 5+1 officials seriously try to keep secret the content of the new package before it gets at hands of Tehran, and claim that this is for giving the Iranian side more opportunity to think about the new incentives, it is said that the recent package, like its precedent, has an economic nature.

 

It seems that 5+1 believes that offering economic sweeteners to Iran, at a time the country is economically under pressure due to UN sanctions, can be a good start for reconciliation. That's when Iran had rejected the previous package which also contained a set of economic incentives, since the term for enjoying them was uranium enrichment halt.

 

In response, by referring Iran's nuclear case to UN Security Council, the countries passed 4 resolutions against Iran that imposed sanctions at different levels.

 

 

After the 5+1 meeting in London and during the group's agreement upon offering a new package of carrots to Iran, Condoleezza Rice uttered doubts if these efforts would work. She said there are low chances that further incentives would influence Iran's nuclear policies.

 

Meanwhile, Rice's Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov though differently. Lavrov's remarks focused on the point that Iran shouldn't be concerned about this move, thatit should avoid any negative reaction and accept a halt in uranium enrichment during the negotiations so that an agreement becomes feasible.

 

However, any changes in the state of Iran's nuclear issue seem far from possible and it looks like the new package of incentives can not divert Iran from its nuclear course or change its opinion about uranium enrichment.

 During the previous negotiations, Iran rejected any offer that implied halting uranium enrichment. The same sounds true for the new story: 'halting enrichment during the negotiations'. Let's not forget that end of the negotiations can be only set through an agreement by the parties involved.