Iran gives mixed messages over demand to halt uranium enrichment

Iranian officials have given contradictory indications on whether Tehran would accept the proposals presented by the international community regarding its uranium enrichment programme. Nearly three weeks after Tehran was offered a new package of incentives, no formal answer has been forthcoming, though Iran's foreign minister, Manuchehr Mottaki, promised on Wednesday that it would be delivered "very soon" and in a "new atmosphere".

Earlier this week, Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, declared that "everything" was up for negotiation with the international community. That apparently contradicted the government's flat refusal to suspend uranium enrichment - the demand on which a deal ultimately hinges. Velayati, a former foreign minister, said it was "expedient" for Iran to resume talks on the offer made by the five permanent members of the UN security council plus Germany, in a move fronted by Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, in mid-June. "If those who act against our interests want us not to accept [the proposal], then our expedience is in accepting it," he told the Jomhouri Eslami newspaper. Yesterday Velayati seemed to be rowing back somewhat, telling Iranian state television that his comments did not mean that Tehran would accept the EU offer, which includes a provision for light-water civilian nuclear reactors. "I talked about accepting negotiations and not accepting the proposed package," he insisted.

EU officials say they are watching the intensifying debate in Tehran with interest, but still await a formal response from the government. "At the end of the day the [Iranian] leadership has to decide," said one British diplomat. "And Velayati is not the one who's calling the shots."

Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian studies at St Andrews University, told the Guardian that the publication of Solana's offer in the Iranian media - the first time this had happened - had combined with a mounting economic crisis to fuel a debate that was now putting pressure on the leadership. "Until now they've been able to take refuge in righteous indignation [about the use of sanctions], but now people can see the offer includes civilian nuclear energy, people may be asking 'what's the problem'?" he said. "It shows divisions in the hierarchy and the west needs to approach this intelligently," Ansari added. "The key is not to dismiss these sort of nuanced responses out of hand. This is clearly a feeler. What the Iranians are doing is to respond to the Israeli PR offensive by suggesting they are open to talks. The question is are they playing for time or are they serious."

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