LONDON — World powers agreed Friday to try again to lure Iran to the nuclear bargaining table with a repackaged set of carrots to accompany the stick of U.N. sanctions.
Diplomats said the offer contained no major new enticements but was meant to remind the clerical regime that talking is still an option.
The central terms of a 2006 compromise stand: Iran could trade away worrisome elements of its nuclear program for economic and political incentives and the possibility of a better relationship with archrival Washington. Iran turned down that invitation, saying it came with insulting strings attached, and Western diplomats were hard-pressed to say why the response would be any different now.
The catch for Iran remains: It would have to shelve its program to enrich uranium before negotiations over possible rewards begin.
The U.N. Security Council has imposed three sets of mild financial and other sanctions on Iran as a cost of spurning the offer.
