Ahmadinejad says world powers must be punished before Iran can sit down for talks with EU

Ahmadinejad: Iran has conditions for talks with EU

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s president says Tehran supports a dialogue with the outside world but that world powers must first be punished for the latest round of U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says these are conditions for Iran to sit and talk with “those behind” the new punitive U.N. measures.

His remarks come after EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, this week invited Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili to discuss the nuclear issue.

Ahmadinejad spoke on Wednesday in the town of Shahr-e-Kord in central Iran.

The U.N. Security Council last week passed a fourth set of sanctions to curtail Iran’s nuclear program over fears it is to develop weapons. Iran denies the charge.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s parliament speaker says lawmakers are backing the government’s push to move ahead with the country’s nuclear program.

The remarks by Ali Larijani come in defiance of the latest U.N. sanctions imposed over Iran’s refusal to halt uranium enrichment — a process that can be used to make nuclear fuel for power plants or lead to nuclear arms production.

Larijani says Iran must not back down from producing uranium enriched to a higher, 20 percent level.

He says it’s needed after a deal fell through to exchange Iran’s low-level uranium for 20-percent enriched one in the form of fuel rods from abroad, for use in a Tehran research reactor.

Larijani spoke at an open session of the parliament on Wednesday.

Tehran denies it’s seeking to make nuclear weapons.