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NYT:
More.Iran on Friday formally responded to an international proposal of incentives aimed at resolving the impasse over the country’s nuclear program, but failed to address the central issue of whether it would halt its uranium enrichment activities, according to officials involved in the diplomatic effort.
Instead, the response, which came in a letter by Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, said that Iran would be willing to open a comprehensive negotiation with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the six world powers involved in confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions. It did not specifically address any of the proposals they presented to it last month. ...
But in their public statements on Friday, the governments involved declined to discuss the substance of the Iranian response.
“We intend to study the Iranian response,” said Gordon D. Johndroe, deputy White House press secretary, in a statement. He said the United States would discus the response with the five other governments — Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — “before responding formally.”
Similarly, a British Foreign Office official said, “We have received the Iranian response and we are consulting” with the other governments before responding.
Officials in Mr. Solana’s office also said there would be no immediate comment on the substance of the letter.
Still, some officials involved in the negotiations expressed disappointment. ...
In their proposal, the six powers left Iran room for maneuver with a timetable for start-up talks. Under their proposal, preliminary talks would start with a mutual six-week “freeze” period, in which the Security Council would not take more punitive action against Iran and Iran would not expand its uranium enrichment program. ...