US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday that Iran should
respond by July 15 to a package offer presented to it by the US, Russia, China,
France, Britain and Germany.
"It simply makes sense for the world to have some kind of indication of
whether Iran intends to pursue the negotiated track or not," Rice said at a
joint press conference with Turkey's foreign minister Abdullah Gul.
"But if, indeed, Iran is trying to stall, it's not going to work. The
international community has said that we need to get an answer, an indication of
where Iran is going with this. We need to know if the path of negotiation is
open or not," Rice said.
Leaders of the Group of Eight major industrial countries are expected to
begin the annual meeting in Russia's Saint Petersburg on July 15.
The United States has repeatedly urged Iran to respond to the offer
designated to try to solve Iran's thorny nuclear issue in weeks rather than
months, and threatened that it will seek United Nations Security Council
sanctions if Iran does not show cooperation.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Iran will make a response to
the offer on Aug. 22 and the United States has dismissed this as too late.
