TEHRAN - There are certain ambiguities in the European Union nuclear offer to Iran which should be cleared up.

On the other hand, it seems that there is no balance between what is demanded from Iran and what is has been offered. Therefore, it is essential for Iran to create equilibrium between the incentives and its future commitments.

So, the nuclear offer should be formulated based on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty with the aim of reaching a compromise between Iran and the West.

Anything else would be interpreted as a departure from internationally recognized principles.

What the West calls incentives to Iran are not in fact incentives but rights, and the nuclear states are duty-bound to transfer nuclear technology to Iran as an NPT compliant state. That is to say, what has been offered is not a concession but a right which should not be called an incentive.

All eyes are now focused on the Iran-EU impasse, and there is no way out except looking eye to eye.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he had held "constructive" talks with Iran's main nuclear negotiator, in his first contacts with the Iranians since he visited Tehran last week, AFP reported.

"I had a phone conversation today with Mr. Ali Larijani. It was a constructive conversation and I hope it will be followed by others," Solana told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.

Solana handed over the nuclear offer to Iran on June 6.

Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said nuclear incentive proposals made by the world's major powers were "a step forward", the Spanish government said on Wednesday after the minister met Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Madrid.

Mottaki said Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes must be compatible with setting adequate guarantees to overcome the concerns of the international community, the statement added.

"He recognized the value of the proposal presented by (EU) High Representative (Javier) Solana as a step forward in the negotiation process and stressed the interest with which Iranian authorities were studying it," it said.

Iran response to offer soon: Russia

Tehran will give its response "soon" to a package from major powers, Interfax news agency quoted Russia's foreign minister as saying on Tuesday.

But Sergei Lavrov did not give a more precise timetable.

"We still expect that Iran will study these proposals in the near future and will give its reply soon," Interfax quoted Lavrov as saying.

World powers stressed the benefits Iran can draw from guaranteeing that its nuclear program is peaceful and downplayed the threat of sanctions when they offered Tehran a deal last week, diplomats told AFP.

The incentives package does stipulate, however, that Tehran has to suspend uranium enrichment until its nuclear activities are proven to be peaceful, according to a copy of the confidential text shown to AFP Tuesday.

"We only handed over the positive part. The idea was not to give Iran a pretext to turn the proposal down," a European diplomat close to the Vienna-based watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

Arab League backs Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy

The Arab League said on Wednesday that Iran had the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, as laid down in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"We support Iran's position on the peaceful use of atomic energy because this right is enshrined in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa said.

"This right exists for all Arab and non-Arab countries which have signed the NPT and wish to achieve progress," Mussa added.

But he stressed the region was not in need of a military nuclear program. "This applies to Iran and Israel and others," Mussa said.

"The objective should be to clear the Middle East region of all weapons of mass destruction, first and foremost nuclear weapons," the Arab League chief emphasized.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, during a visit last week to Cairo where the Arab League is based, urged all Muslim countries to follow in his country's footsteps and develop a nuclear energy program.

"The nuclear issue affects the future of all Muslim countries," Larijani said Saturday.