Iran postpones UN nuclear talks to 'discipline' West

Iran is holding off talks with world powers on its nuclear programme until the end of August as a way to "discipline" the West. Making the announcement Monday in Tehran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also called for new negotiating partners and said more countries should be involved.

Reuters

Ahmadinejad said the nuclear negotiations would likely occur after the middle of Ramadan towards the end of August, adding that the West needed to “learn the way of talking to other nations”.

His remarks are a mediated response to a fourth set of UN sanctions imposed by the Security Council on 9 June after Iran’s refusal to halt its uranium-enrichment work.

The current talks involve Iran and the so-called "P5+1" countries: the permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany.

On the separate issue of a nuclear fuel-swap deal, Ahmadinejad said Iran would seek the inclusion of Brazil and Turkey. Currently involved in negotiations are the US, France and Russia.

Ahmadinejad stressed the talks will be held on the basis of the Tehran Declaration, a proposal signed on 17 May between Iran, Turkey and Brazil, which envisages shipping Iran's low-enriched uranium to Turkey.

This will be followed at a later date with the supply of high enriched uranium to Tehran from Russia and France.

Ahmadinejad also rejected the United States' Central Intelligence Agency claims that Iran could have nuclear weapons ready to use as early as 2012.

He said the stupidest thing governments could do today is to accumulate atomic weapons.