Iran: Tehran's Immediate Response to the G8 Summit

After the warning of the G8 Summit to Tehran, Iran response came quickly. On Saturday, Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran's foreign minister, said that they had not received "a new message" and would propose a package "containing Iran's stances on political, security and international issues." Mottaki said: "We have not received any new message from the G8. But based on the news we have received, they had different views on different issues which did not lead to a unanimous agreement in some areas."

Mottaki is correct, in the sense that, except from a September deadline for negotiations, there were nothing new in the G8 declaration. However, despite Mottaki's declaration, "The package can be a good basis for talks with the West," there was nothing new in Iran's response, either. According to Al-Jazeera, it will not be beyond a new version of a May 2008 list of discussion points stating "the creation of an international consortium" to enrich uranium on its own soil as a way of defusing the tense standoff over its nuclear programme.

Britain's Foreign Office and the White House have avoided giving immediate responses so far. Instead, the "5+1" (the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany) await Tehran's next step.