Iran rejects accelerated UN talks on its nuclear program

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected speeding up negotiations with world powers over its disputed nuclear program during a visit to Venezuela. Talks "are continuing, and I see no reason to speed them up," he said at a press conference before departing Venezuela for the UN General Assembly in New York. "Iran's nuclear program is very clear and very transparent," the president said. "We have always said that we are willing to negotiate with any country." If nuclear energy "is something good then everyone should have it, and if it is bad then nobody should have it," he said at the end of his two-day visit. Ahmadinejad accused Western powers of wanting to control nuclear technology "and when another country needs it they sell it at a high price."