Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Tuesday that Iran needed time to respond to the incentive package offered by six world powers on its nuclear issue, the official MENA news agency reported.

Abul Gheit made the remarks at a joint press conference with visiting Omani Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, said MENA.

Iran would have an opportunity to better understand the new proposal as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was visiting Iran to deliver the proposal, Abul Gheit was quoted as saying, adding the Iranian nuclear issue also needed a lot more time to be scrutinized.

Solana arrived in Tehran late on Monday with a new package agreed by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- plus Germany last Thursday.

Abul Gheit said that a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction was an Egyptian and Arab constant request, which was first raised in the UN General Assembly in 1974 by Iran and was supported by Egypt.

As for the current situation in the Palestinian territories and the conflicts between the ruling Hamas and Fatah, Abul Gheit said he was deeply concerned over the future of the Palestinian cause.

He said that Egypt would continue to play its role of mediating on both the Palestinian-Israeli relations and the Hamas-Fatah conflicts.

Source: Xinhua