U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday urged Iran to respond to the incentives offered by the West to suspend its nuclear program within "a matter of weeks".

In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Rice said "I'm not one for timelines and specific schedules, but I think it's fair to say that we really do have to have this settled over a matter of weeks, not months."

Rice also reiterated that it was essential that Iran suspend its suspect nuclear activity, noting that Iran could not use negotiation "as a cover for continued progress along the nuclear front."

The United States, joined by Britain, Russia, France, China and Germany, agreed on Thursday to offer Iran new incentives if it would give up uranium enrichment.

Rice said the proposal represented "a major opportunity" for Iran. "It's sort of a major crossroads for Iran and it's perhaps not surprising that they will need a little bit of time to look at it."

"But the fact is there are two paths, and we hope they're going to choose the path that is a path away from confrontation and toward a solution," Rice said.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that Tehran "won't be in haste to judge" the Western incentives package meant to halt its uranium enrichment program.

"We won't make any prejudgment about the proposal to be presented to us... we won't be in haste to judge it," Ahmadinejad said.

"We are after negotiations but fair and just negotiations. They must be without any condition," he said.

Source: Xinhua