Iran accepts parts of Western nuclear package

? Iran said Sunday that it accepted some parts of a Western offer aimed at getting Tehran to drop its nuclear program, but it rejected others while calling the central point ambiguous.

Iran said the key issue of uranium enrichment – a process that can make nuclear fuel for a power plant or fissile material for an atomic bomb – needed clarification.

Although the government did not give specifics, the comments were the first time Iran has said directly that it rejects or accepts parts of the package.

Top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Iran would reject the package outright if Western powers threatened the Islamic republic with sanctions in the nuclear standoff.

The comments came as the United States and Europe lobbied other nations to join them this week in urging Iran to accept the offer – and warning of U.N. Security Council action if it does not – according to documents shared with The Associated Press in Vienna, Austria.

The package, presented by permanent Security Council members the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain, plus Germany, contains a series of incentives for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, which would allow negotiations over its nuclear ambitions.