Iran said today that it is currently installing 3,000 centrifuges, effectively confirming that its nuclear program is running behind schedule as these devices for uranium enrichment were to have been in place by the end of last year.

Russia expressed limited hope today as Russian and Iranian officials started talks in Moscow on an offer to enrich uranium for Iran, seen as a final opportunity for the Islamic regime to avoid the threat of international sanctions over Western concerns it is developing nuclear weapons.

Iran has increased the brinkmanship over its disputed nuclear programme, abruptly postponing talks with Moscow on a plan to enrich Tehran’s uranium on Russian territory to allay fears it is building an atomic weapon.

Iran’s negotiations with Russia over its plan to enrich Iranian uranium on its soil have been indefinitely postponed, presidential spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said today.

Iran’s hard-line constitutional watchdog has decided that women can run for president in June elections, state-run television reported today.