Iran to delay nuclear talks until August

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Monday his intention to delay nuclear talks until late August, asking Western governments to 'put their bullying aside.'

After Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed concern on Sunday over Tehran's lack of transparency with regard to the Iranian nuclear program, Iran announced another delay in opening talks on their questionable nuclear ambitions, agreeing to a late August time frame. The August delay was seen as a punishment against the United Nations for having moved ahead with further sanctions against Iran. In June, the United Nations Security Council voted 12-2 with one abstention in favor of additional sanctions after it was determined that Tehran was continuing to lack transparency in the details of its nuclear program. Western allies believe that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, while Iran contends that its nuclear pursuits are for peaceful purposes. "Western countries have no problems with Israel's nuclear bombs," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, according to CNN International. While Iran seeks to turn attention to Israel's undeclared nuclear weapons, Russia continues to express their worries over Tehran's secrecy. "This information has to be checked but such information is always worrying and all the more so because the international community does not recognize the Iranian nuclear program as transparent," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told reporters on Sunday in reaction to a CIA assessment that Iran has enough uranium to build two nuclear bombs.