Rice warns Iran of 'punitive measures' over nuclear drive

ABU DHABI - US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, on her way to the United Arab Emirates on Monday, warned Iran of “punitive measures” if it does not respond seriously in two weeks to an international offer to freeze sensitive nuclear work.
Rice sought to tighten the screws on Tehran after taking the unprecedented step of sending a top US diplomat to meet Iran’s chief negotiator Saeed Jalili at international talks in Geneva.
The United States had until Saturday refused to sit with Iran on nuclear talks until it stopped enriching uranium, but changed course to show it was going the extra mile for a diplomatic solution.
The meeting sent a “very strong message to the Iranians that they can’t go and stall ... and that they have to make a decision,” Rice told reporters on her way to Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE.
“It clarifies Iran’s choices and we will see what Iran does in two weeks. But I think the diplomatic process now has a kind of new energy in it.”
Six world powers have offered to start pre-negotiations during which Tehran would add no more uranium-enriching centrifuges and in return face no further sanctions - the so-called “freeze-for-freeze” approach.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed Rice’s warning in an address to the Israeli parliament.
“Iran now has a clear choice to make: suspend its nuclear programme and accept our offer of negotiations or face growing isolation and the collective response (of) not just one nation but of all nations round the world,” Brown said.
“Just as we have led the work on three mandatory sanctions resolutions of the UN, the UK will continue to lead - with the United States and our European Union partners - in our determination to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapons programme.”
Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana hailed their talks as “constructive” but Solana lamented that Tehran had not given a final response to proposed incentives for Tehran to abandon its nuclear programme.