Iran says it won’t enter talks with the West over disputed nuclear program until late August

Iran postpones any nuclear talks until late August

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will not hold talks with the West over its nuclear program until late August to “punish” world powers for imposing tougher sanctions against the country, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday.

He also vowed that Iran will retaliate should its ships be searched over suspicions that the cargo may violate the new sanctions, which were approved by the U.N. Security Council earlier this month.

The European Union and U.S. Congress followed with new punishing measures in a bid to show the Iranian government that notions of becoming a nuclear power could be accompanied by a steep economic price. Tehran insists its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

Ahmadinejad accused the world powers of approving the sanctions to give them the upper hand in talks over the issue.

“We call this bad temper,” he said, adding talks on the issue would be postponed until the end of the Iranian month of Mordad, which would be about Aug. 20. “This is a fine to punish them a bit so that they learn the custom of dialogue with our nation.”

The Iranian leader also set three conditions for an eventual resumption of talks, saying countries who want to participate should make clear whether they oppose Israel’s purported atomic arsenal, whether they support the Nonproliferation Treaty and whether they want friendship or hostility toward Iran.

However, he said, participation in the talks was not contingent on the answers.

The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to use its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop atomic weapons. Iran has denied the charges, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating electricity, not bombs.

The new U.N. sanctions call for an asset freeze of another 40 additional companies and organizations, including 15 linked to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and 22 involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities. The resolution also bans Iran from pursuing “any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”

It also bars Iranian investment in activities such as uranium mining, and prohibits Iran from buying several categories of heavy weapons, including attack helicopters and missiles.

The sanctions came after last year’s push to get Iran to accept a U.N.-drafted plan to swap its low-enriched uranium for higher-enriched uranium in the form of fuel rods, which Tehran needs for a medical research reactor. At the time, the swap would have significantly reduced Iran’s low-enriched uranium stockpile and delayed any weapons-making capabilities.

Instead, Iran opted for an alternative plan backed by Turkey and Brazil that included the uranium-for-rods exchange but didn’t mandate a halt on Iran’s enrichment process and fell short of U.N. demands.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard, the country’s most powerful military force, has warned in recent days that it will retaliate should Iranian ships be searched.

Ahmadinejad reiterated that warning.

“We reserve the right to retaliate,” Ahmadinejad said. “We were not interested in getting to this stage. But if some insist (on going in this direction), experience has shown that we can defend our rights. They will strongly regret any action they may take.”