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ABOARD AIRFORCE ONE-The White House said on Wednesday it believed world powers had to take further "punitive" measures against Iran because Tehran gave no concrete reply to their demand that it freeze its nuclear activities.The U.S. comments came hours ahead of a conference call with senior officials from China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain to decide how to proceed.The major powers say they fear Tehran wants to build an atomic bomb.But Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, insists it is only seeking to master nuclear technology to generate electricity."In the absence of a positive response to the generous offer that we provided for in our extended package, we think that the allies will have no choice but to take further measures that would be punitive," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said aboard Air Force One.Iran's one-page letter handed to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday gave no firm reply to an offer from the major powers to refrain from more U.N. penalties if Iran freezes expansion of its nuclear work. Iran instead promised a "clear response" at an unspecified date."I think that the Iranians have long stalled on responding to the allies, so I think the most important thing we can do is let the political directors have their conference call and decide on their next steps," said Perino, traveling with U.S. President George W. Bush in Asia.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
