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EU's Solana to present Iran with nuclear proposalKhamenei warns U.S. of possible disruption to oil shipments
 Javier Solana is to present a package of proposals to Iranian officials on the country's nuclear program. QUICKVOTEYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- The European Union's foreign policy chief is set to meet with Iranian leaders in Tehran in an effort to end a standoff with the West over the nation's controversial nuclear program. Javier Solana will arrive Monday night, according to his spokeswoman, and hold talks the next day with Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Ali Larijani, the head Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Six world powers -- Germany and the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council -- last week agreed on a package of incentives if Iran stops uranium enrichment, or penalties if it refuses. Solana is to present the package to Iranian officials during Tuesday's meetings. (Full story) Washington has no diplomatic relations with Iran, which U.S. President George W. Bush branded part of an "axis of evil." However, the United States last week agreed to join European allies in negotiations with Tehran if Iran suspends its uranium enrichment program and resumes full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Islamic republic says it wants to pursue nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but the United States and the EU believe it harbors aspirations to be armed with nuclear weapons. On Sunday, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that any "misbehavior" directed at Iran would serve to disrupt Persian Gulf shipments. (Full story) "In order to threaten Iran, you say that you can guarantee movements of oil through this region," he said, referring to shipments that pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz near Iran and other countries. About 17 million barrels a day -- 20 percent of the world's daily needs -- leave the Gulf region via oil tankers using the narrow passageway. The United States "should know that the slightest misbehavior on your part would endanger the region's energy security," he said. "You are not capable of guaranteeing energy security in this region." Khamenei -- speaking on the 17th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Khomeini, who spearheaded the establishment of the Islamic republic in 1979 -- did not specify what he meant by disruption or misbehavior. His comment sent oil prices surging above $73 a barrel. (Full story) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice deflected concerns about Khamenei's remarks. "We're not going to react to every statement that comes out of Iran," she told CNN's "Late Edition." "The oil card -- well, let's just remember that Iran is some 80 percent dependent on oil in its budget" and would be unable to handle a disruption, she said. "That diplomatic process needs to work now with Iran being given the proposal that the six parties put together in Vienna, with Iran recognizing that it now has a path ahead that would allow an end to this impasse," Rice said. "But also that the international community is committed to a second path should that first path not work." Rice refused to lay out a timetable for Iran to respond to the latest overture, saying, "I don't believe in setting timelines and deadlines. The only point here is that this can't be endless. The Iranian program is progressing, and the international community needs to know if there is a negotiating option that really has life in it." Rice also rejected assertions by Iranian leaders that the West is trying to prevent Iran from having nuclear energy. "If what Iran is looking for is civil nuclear technology, a peaceful program with civil nuclear technology, no one is trying to deny them that," she said. "They've said from time to time that they have a right to civil nuclear, to a civil nuclear program. We accept that." "The question is, can they have a civil nuclear program that does not have the proliferation risk associated with having ... certain fuel-cycle technologies on Iranian territory?" No compromise on enrichment programIranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday his country is ready to hold "fair and unconditional" talks with the West on Iran's nuclear issue, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. (Full story) Ahmadinejad, who spoke to thousands gathered at Khomeini's shrine, repeated that Iran will not compromise on its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, the news agency said. But Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran will formally announce its views on the incentives package after it has been studied. Ahmadinejad, a hard-line conservative, has sparked international outrage with some of his previous comments denying the Holocaust and calling for the destruction of Israel. Khamenei -- who didn't mention the diplomatic offer from the six nations -- insisted that the country "is not pursuing a nuclear bomb" and said "we have no intention of war with any government." "We have no plans that would require us to have a bomb. This is against Islamic principles. Building and maintaining a nuclear bomb costs a lot, and we do not need this," he said. "We are no threat to anyone, but we are dedicated and committed to our national interests and aspirations," he said. "But if anyone wants to stop us, they will feel the wrath and anger of this nation.". -- CNN's Shirzad Bozorghmehr contributed to this report 
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