White House Softens Iran Nuclear Response

ABC News

Pressure From (OLD)Europeans Changed Administration's Tone, Officials Say

While the details of the response have not been made public, Iran said its response offers an opportunity for "serious" talks on its nuclear program.


In a statement Wednesday the State Department promised to review Iran's response but said that it "falls short of the conditions set by the Security Council, which require the full and verifiable suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities."


The tone of that statement, however, was milder than the Bush administration had envisioned on Tuesday.


U.S. officials tell ABC News the White House had intended to issue a stronger statement rejecting Iran's response and calling for talks on sanctions against Iran to begin quickly, but pressure mounted from European countries overnight to hold off on the strong language and to allow time for countries to carefully consider Iran's response.