Iran confirmed in Tehran Friday that it had received the long-awaited comprehensive proposal on the Iranian nuclear issue submitted by the European Union (EU) trio of Britain, France and Germany earlier in the day.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi made the confirmation, saying the Islamic Republic would scrutinize the proposal and respond within a couple of days, reported the state television.

The EU proposal was delivered on Friday morning by ambassadors of Britain, France and Germany to Tehran, the EU trio acting as brokers of Iran's nuclear issue for nearly two years.?? In an interview with Europe 1 radio on the occasion, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy urged Tehran to "hear the voice of reason" and to retreat from the plan of resuming uranium conversion activities.

"Iran's nuclear case will certainly be referred to the UN Security Council (if Tehran does not give up the resumption), " Douste-Blazy warned.

He noted that the EU proposal included some trade and technological cooperation accords, terming it as "ambitious and generous".

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani forecasted last Sunday that the EU proposal would secures Iran's integrity, independence and sovereignty as well as legal rights on peaceful nuclear technology.

"The EU will support Iranian nuclear program and provides Iran with nuclear power plants as well as fuel under the guarantee of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Rowhani said in a report to the then president Mohammad Khatami.

The EU trio promised to present a comprehensive nuclear proposal to Iran in two months during the latest bilateral negotiations in Geneva in late May.

But the EU did not provide the proposal which includes economic, political and technological incentives on the promised time.

Iran has threatened earlier this week to resume work of the uranium conversion facilities in the central city of Isfahan under the supervision of the IAEA to press the Europeans to present the proposal as early as Aug. 1.

The EU refused to accept the deadline and said they would call for an emergency meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, urging Tehran not to take the unilateral measure and hinting that Iran's nuclear case could be referred to the UN Security Council.

Rowhani said on Wednesday that Iran expected to resume the conversion activities on Saturday.

The EU trio softened its stance on Thursday, saying that they were planning to present the proposal ahead of the scheduled date.

Iran has suspended its uranium enrichment activities since November 2004 to pave the way for talks with the EU trio to settle dispute over its nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Tehran also urges Europe to acknowledge its right to go on with uranium enrichment activities, a key step to the construction of the nuclear reactor.

However, the EU, trying to talk Iran out of its program of building reactor, insists that Iran must permanently halt its enrichment program,

The United States has also accused Iran of using the program to develop nuclear weapons. But Tehran has rejected the accusation and insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Source: Xinhua