Iran’s President Ahmadinejad Hoping for Tickets for the London Olympics 2012

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he is eager to attend the London Olympics but fears that Britain does not want to host him.

Ahmadinejad was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying he would like to support his country's athletics team during the London Olympics in July

He casted doubts on a possible trip to London due to tension between Iran and the UK over fears the Islamic state iss secretly building a nuclear bomb.

Iran has denied such claims saying its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.

Talking to the Iranian athletes who had qualified for the Olympics, the president said: "I would like to be next to our young athletes at the 2012 Olympics but the host has a problem with this."

Ahmadinejad failed clarify whether he had formally requested to attend the games or if he had been refused entry to the UK.

There was no immediate comment from the International Olympic Committee.

Anglo-Iranian relations were further hampered when Iranian students stormed the UK embassy in Tehran in November 2011. Britain retaliated by closing the mission and cut all ties with Iran.

Iran had also previously criticised the 2012 Olympic Logo, saying it resembled the word "Zion".

Ahmadinejad's remark can also be interpreted as a snub to his conservative hard-line opponents in parliament who oppose restoring ties with Britain, according to Iranian authorities. There was even a warning of a possible Iranian pullout of the games but that threat was later dropped.

Earlier this year Iran stopped exporting oil to Britain as a pre-emptive measure over the EU decision to impose an oil embargo on Iran over its nuclear ambitions. The oil embargo goes into effect in July.

So far some 50 Iranian athletes have qualified to participate in the Olympics in several sports, including weightlifting, wrestling, shooting, track and field, and table tennis.