Iran on Thursday promised to formally respond on Aug. 22 to a Western package of incentives aimed at resolving the standoff over its nuclear program.
The Supreme National Security Council, Iran's top security decision-making body, also threatened that the country will reconsider its nuclear policies if sanctions are imposed.
"The package of incentives requires a logical time to study it ... August 22 has been set for declaring (our) views," the council said in a statement read on state-run television. "In case the path of confrontation is chosen instead of the path of dialogue ... and Iran's definite rights are threatened, then there will be no option for Iran but to reconsider its nuclear policies," it added.
The statement came a day after Russia said the U.N. Security Council is in no rush to pressure Iran over its nuclear program.
