(CNSNews.com) – Amid speculation over the reasons for delaying the largest-ever joint United States-Israel missile defense exercise, originally scheduled for the spring, senior Iranian officials appear to be relishing the international spotlight resulting from the regime’s belligerent actions and statements.

After reports cited unnamed military officials suggesting tensions between Washington and Jerusalem over how to deal with Iran, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a brief statement Monday saying the aim of postponing the “Austere Challenge 12” drill until the second half of the year was “to allow for a better organized exercise.”

“For a month now, we have been in talks with the Pentagon about postponing the joint exercise,” he said. “The decision was made in coordination with the U.S. We reached an understanding that it was right to postpone it to allow for a better organized exercise.”

Meanwhile Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said Monday that actions by the U.S. and its allies were “nothing more than a propaganda show which aims to prevent Tehran’s inspiring role in ongoing Islamic Awakening in the Middle East and North Africa,” the state news agency IRNA reported.

Larijani described IAEA assertions on Iran as politically motivated, called the assassinations of nuclear scientists a sign of desperation on the part of the U.S. and Israel, and said Iran’s “enemies” would struggle to convince buyers of Iranian oil to stop.