Iran's shift in nuclear tone may be to buy time

By Edmund Blair - Analysis

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's softer tone towards an offer of nuclear incentives made by world powers may be a bid to buy time rather than a shift to accept a key demand to halt nuclear work, analysts and diplomats said.

Despite an unusually public debate about how Tehran should respond involving some senior Iranian politicians, there have been no official indications of any readiness to suspend uranium enrichment -- the demand on which a deal ultimately hinges.

"Signals seem to be a bit better (than before the proposal was presented) but we don't see any big change from the Iranian side," said one European diplomat.

Iran initially sent a clear response to the offer.

On June 14, the same day European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana handed over the offer from six powers in Tehran, a government spokesman rejected the suspension of enrichment, a process the West fears Iran wants to use to make atomic bombs.

But Iranian officials now sound more conciliatory. Even President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been uncharacteristically quiet after earlier insisting Iran would not give in to "bullying powers" over nuclear plans Tehran says are peaceful.

Some Western diplomats detect a more positive approach from Iran and say any knee-jerk public statements have turned to more careful reflection. "There is a debate," said one.

However the diplomat said it was not clear Iran would accept suspension or even a "freeze-for-freeze" idea to get preparatory discussions going, a step involving Iran freezing expansion of nuclear work in return for world powers halting moves to add to three rounds of U.N. sanctions already imposed.

An Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters last month, said time was on Iran's side.

"We will review the package but not the part about enrichment freeze ... We are moving forward with our work and Iran's nuclear capability is being constantly augmented," said the official, who was involved in talks with Solana in Tehran.

Iran said in 2006 it was considering a similar offer by world powers but rejected it in the end, a maneuver diplomats at the time saw as time wasting. Some see the same pattern now.

'PROPAGANDA WARFARE'

The European diplomat said Iran may make counter offers without halting atomic activities, like allowing more U.N. inspections, he said. "All these (options) mean more time for them to keep doing what they've been doing," he added.

But analysts say there are indications the Iranian leadership -- with ultimate authority lying with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- believes Iran has to soften the confrontational approach epitomized by Ahmadinejad.

"I think they realize the propaganda warfare they launched some time ago has reached a point that it is no longer helping them and now they have to be more tactful with what they say," said an Iranian analyst, who asked not to be named.