Europeans have asked the United States to consider selling new commercial planes to Iran as part of a proposed package of inducements and penalties aimed at resolving the nuclear crisis with Tehran, diplomats said on Friday.
The Europeans have also proposed a regional security dialogue that some hope could eventually draw Washington and Tehran, adversaries for more than 25 years, into direct talks.
The package was formally presented to the United States, Russia and China shortly after it was agreed on Thursday by Britain, France, Germany and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "We're still looking at it and we've not yet decided our position," Under-secretary of State Nicholas Burns told Reuters.
He refused to discuss details of the EU package and said he would deliver the US response at a meeting of political directors of the major powers in London on Wednesday.
When the United States first signed on to a European initiative in early 2005 aimed at persuading Iran to abandon nuclear weapons-related activities, it agreed to consider selling aircraft spare parts as an inducement to Tehran. But Iran, under sweeping US sanctions since the 1979 Islamic revolution, has also asked for planes to modernise its ageing fleet.
One question for Washington now is "could we go beyond spare parts and consider providing Iran with new planes, which would necessarily need acceptance by the US," a senior European diplomat told reporters.
It would affect both Boeing Co, an American firm, and the European consortium Airbus, based in France, whose planes include US-made components. Iran has several commercial airlines and the active fleet includes a handful of older Boeing planes including four 727s and six early model 747s, Boeing said. Iran has two 737s in storage.
A 2005 report by the International Civil Aviation Organisation concluded the US embargo on Iran, which includes engines and spare parts for commercial planes, had endangered aviation safety. Boeing has not delivered aircraft to Iran since 1980.
When the US and other major powers meet in London next Wednesday they aim to form a common front and offer Iran a clear choice - benefits if it halts nuclear enrichment and penalties if it does not.
Major inducements in the package include a European light-water reactor to produce nuclear energy and guarantees of an assured fuel supply in a joint project with Russia.
The United States has insisted such benefits be balanced with strong sanctions.
But diplomats said that instead of specifying exactly what penalties Tehran would face if it remains defiant, the EU offer would point out the kinds of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council in the past on various states. A US official said that would not be sufficient, but Washington would negotiate.
The package outlines economic and trade benefits that could accrue to Iran. But, fearful of running afoul of US law, the Europeans are seeking "written assurances" that Washington will not punish European firms if they invest in Iran, the senior diplomat said.
US officials have ruled out direct talks with Iran, as well as security guarantees for the Islamic republic. The senior European diplomat said the EU3 proposed a regional security dialogue including the United States and other major powers.
"We are very much in favour of direct (US-Iran) talks, not now but when the time will come ... If Iran suspends enrichment, then a dialogue could be considered," he said.
European diplomats say only the United States, which has invaded two of Iran's neighbours - Iraq and Afghanistan - in the last five years can guarantee Iran's security. But Washington refuses to do so. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful electricity generation, but Western countries say it wants to produce atomic bombs, not just nuclear power stations.
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