Tehran: Iran's top nuclear negotiator has offered an opening for possible compromise with the West, saying the Islamic regime is ready to hold talks with world powers over its nuclear program.
But Iranian lawmakers also sent a message of defiance to the world community, displaying strong support for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nominee for defence minister even though he is wanted by Argentina for the bombing of a Jewish community center in 1994 that killed 85 people.
Some parliament members cried "Death to Israel" as the prospective defence minister, General Ahmad Vahidi, addressed the chamber on the eve of a vote for all of Ahmadinejad's selections for his 21-seat Cabinet.
The embattled president faces another key test in Thursday's expected vote. Many lawmakers, including some former conservative allies, have questioned the caliber of his picks for the government posts, which include the first women named for possible Cabinet seats since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The rejection of several prominent nominees by the parliament would be another setback for Ahmadinejad, who has faced increasingly political isolation for his unwavering support of the hard-line crackdown on protesters after his disputed June 12 election.
Many lawmakers have contended some of Ahmadinejad's selections for Cabinet posts lack experience or are political cronies.
Beyond the struggle over his government, Ahmadinejad faces a month full of pivotal moments, his annual trip to the UN General Assembly in late September and the deadline set by President Barack Obama for Iran to begin talks this month on its nuclear ambitions.
Iran's main nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, told reporters that his nation will present a new "package of proposals" and will open talks "in order to ease common concerns in the international arena."
His comments came a day before a meeting outside Frankfurt of the six countries trying to address concerns about Iran's nuclear program -- the US, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany.
Obama has given Iran a deadline of the end of September to agree to nuclear talks or risk harsher sanctions. Last year, Iran was offered economic incentives in exchange for suspending uranium enrichment, but Iran's leaders responded by saying they would never give up control of the production of nuclear fuel.
Western nations and others worry Iran is moving toward development of nuclear warheads. But Iranian leaders say the country only seeks reactors to produce electricity.