Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that Iran will respond in mid-August to the package of incentives on its nuclear program, but President Bush accused Tehran of dragging its feet. There is reportedly an informal deadline of July 17, when the G-8 convenes in St. Petersburg, though the White House and State Department have refused to confirm or deny this in their press briefings.
"We are studying the proposals. Hopefully, we will present our views about the package by mid-August," Ahmadinejad told a crowd in western Iran in a speech broadcast live on state television.
Western diplomats have said -- and we agree on the basis of their track record -- that Iran's hesitation to respond may be a stalling maneuver aimed at buying time to expand its nuclear fuel enrichment program and make it a fait accompli.
Speaking at an annual U.S.-EU summit in Vienna, Bush said the mid-August timetable is "an awful long time for a reasonable answer... It should not take the Iranians that long to analyze what is a reasonable deal."
If Iran rejects the deal, Bush has warned that it can expect Security Council action and progressively stronger political and economic sanctions. If it accepts the package, Tehran has to suspend its uranium enrichment entirely before the P-5 + 1 will start negotiations on a framework for its nuclear program. Since Iran resumed enrichment this year after a three-year suspension, Ahmadinejad has repeatedly vowed never to halt it again.
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