Iran will retaliate if ships inspected

Iran’s president says Tehran will retaliate if its cargo ships come under inspection and that it will delay resuming nuclear talks to teach the West the manner of talking “to our nation.”

“We reserve the right of retaliation for ourselves… we are able to defend our rights,” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a Monday press conference, when asked about the possible inspection of Iranian ships under new UN sanctions against the country.

On Iran’s nuclear program, Ahmadinejad said Tehran would be prepared to hold talks with Western countries only by the second half of the holy month of Ramadan — in September.

“Negotiations will be delayed as a punishment to teach them a lesson to know how to have a dialogue with nations,” Ahmadinejad said.

The Iranian president said that Tehran would return to talks only if certain conditions are met.

He said the Western countries should announce their stance on Israeli “bombs” and say whether they abide by the regulations of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“They should also say what they mean by dialogue. Do they want to be our friends or our enemies?”

Ahmadinejad said Iran would also seek the inclusion of Brazil and Turkey in the nuclear fuel swap negotiations with the United States, France and Russia.

He added that the Tehran Declaration would be the basis of the country’s talks with Western countries.

Iran, Brazil and Turkey issued the Tehran declaration on May 17 based on which Iran said it was ready to exchange 1,200 kg of its low enriched uranium on Turkish soil for fuel for its medical research reactor.

However, the majority of the 15-member UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran on June 9.