June 29th, Official Deadline for Iran

In an interview with the AFP news agency, several European officials announced that Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, gave Iran till June 29th to come up with an official and final answer regarding the offers' package the Islamic republic was presented with on June 6th. The specific date was chosen because it is also the day when the G8 foreign ministers are due to hold an important meeting in Moscow.


According to the same European diplomats, this "more or less" official deadline was actually mentioned ever since Solana handed Iran the trade, security and technology proposals from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States: "Solana said that. That this was the deadline".

Another diplomat, who wanted to keep its anonymity due to the extreme sensitivity of the matter, declared that the deadline established will continue to remain more flexible than it has been announced, since time is not really a priority, or not as much a priority as receiving a positive reply from Iran regarding the offers: "If they ask for a little bit more time, I'm sure that we will give it to them".

Nevertheless, US president Bush made matters clear that this flexibility should not be taken for granted, as Iran has "weeks, not months" to decide. In an official address on Monday, Bush launched a warning for Iran that should it not respect the deadlines and not freeze the uranium enrichment, it would have to face "stronger political and economic sanctions", highlighting the fact that this is a non-negotiable condition in order to end the crisis.

The G8 foreign ministers will also hold a summit in St. Petersburg from July 15th.-17th.