TEHRAN (AP) -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is eager to attend the Olympic Games in London to support Iranian athletes but says that Britain has a "problem" with hosting him.

Ahmadinejad was quoted on Thursday by the official IRNA news agency as saying he would like to be "beside Iranian athletes" in London but that the British are unwilling to have him there. He did not elaborate.

Britain is in a standoff with Iran over its nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at producing an atomic weapon. Iran denies the charge.

Britain in 2011 cut ties with Iran, closing its embassy in Tehran after militant Iranian students stormed the mission. The raid followed a move by Iranian lawmakers to decrease relations and allegation of hostile British policies toward Tehran.