Iran president 'considers' nuclear package

Mr Ahmadinejad said his government would give a response to the package - drawn up by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany - in "due course".

"Generally speaking, we regard this offer as a stepforward and I have instructed my colleagues to carefully consider it," he said at a press conference in Shanghai.

His comments were the highest-level indication of Iranian interest in the proposal but they failed to address a key element - that the condition for starting talks if for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities.

Officials in Tehran have suggested that they would be sending a counterproposal and are apparently hoping to start negotiations without having to suspend uranium enrichment.

Mr Ahmadinejad was visiting Shanghai as an observer atthe summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, a centralAsian security group whose increasingly high-profile reflects thegrowing influence of China in the region.

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