The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, currently negotiating the settlement of the Iran nuclear issue, have decided to hold a conference call Wednesday following Tehran's failure to offer a final answer to a proposed incentives package, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday.
"If we don't receive a clear message from them (Iran), we will have no choice but to pursue additional measures. The P5+1 political directors have scheduled a conference call for tomorrow," State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters.
Representatives of the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany had earlier held a telephone conference on the Iranian nuclear program Monday.
"We agreed in the absence of a clear, positive response from Iran (that) we have no choice but to pursue further measures against Iran," Gallegos had said Monday.
On July 19, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili held talks to discuss Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
The United States, in a break with past policy, sent Undersecretary of State William Burns to join the talks.
During the one-day meeting, Iran failed to give a clear answer to the incentives package proposed by the P5+1.
However, both Solana and Jalili said the meeting was positive and constructive and had promoted understanding of each other's positions. They also agreed to talk again by phone or in person in about two weeks.
Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said no deadline had been agreed upon during the Geneva meeting for Tehran to respond to the package of incentives.
The United States accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons under the cover of a civil nuclear program, a charge firmly denied by Tehran.
Source:Xinhua
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