Iran to delay nuclear talks to late August

TEHRAN, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday Iran will postpone nuclear talks with the West to late August to punish the West for imposing economic sanctions on Iran.

Earlier in June, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its suspected nuclear program, which caused sharp reactions from Iranian officials.

Ahmadinejad told a press conference in Tehran on Monday that Iran will return to the negotiation table "after the middle of Ramadan" in late August to teach the West "how to have a dialogue with other nations."

"The West wants to take upper hand, we call this something immoral," Ahmadinejad said, adding that "because you did something immoral (by imposing sanctions) we will delay the talks."

"This is a kind of fighting ... they need to learn how to behave themselves," said the Iranian president.

He added that Iran is ready to talk, but only "on the basis of the Tehran Declaration."

Tehran declaration is meant to build confidence, Ahmadinejad added.

In May, Iran, Turkey and Brazil signed a joint declaration in Tehran to endorse a fuel swap according to which Iran will ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for the 20 percent uranium fuel needed for its reactor.

U.S. Congress last Thursday overwhelmingly passed the Iran sanctions bill, paving way for the Obama administration to take unilateral sanctions on Tehran over its controversial nuclear program.

The United States, Israel and other Western countries worry that Tehran may obtain the uranium fuel needed for nuclear weapons by the same process to purify uranium. The Iranian government insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purpose.

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