Solana still awaits Iran reply to nuclear offer

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Wednesday he was still waiting for a formal answer from Iran to incentives offered by major powers aimed at solving the dispute over its nuclear program.

He declined to comment on apparently conciliatory remarks by a senior adviser to Iran's top authority, who was quoted on Wednesday by the French newspaper Liberation as suggesting a compromise could be found.

"I cannot make any comment about that," he said of the remarks attributed to Ali Akbar Velayati, who a day earlier was quoted separately in an Iranian newspaper as chiding the "provocative" approach of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"I very much hope this sentiment they are expressing ... will become true but for the moment I have not received any comment formalized," Solana told reporters before a conference at the European Parliament.

"These are good expressions but I would like to have a response formalized the sooner the better," he added, declining to comment on whether he expected face-to-face talks with the Iranians in the near future.

Last month, Solana delivered an international package of incentives to Tehran for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.

The offer was based on an updated version of one rejected by Iran in 2006 and included help in developing a civilian nuclear program and trade benefits.

Liberation quoted Velayati as saying "a compromise could be found between the communal concerns in Iran and the other states".

(Reporting by Mark John in Brussels and Mark Heinrich in Vienna; Editing by Dale Hudson and Andrew Dobbie)