VIENNA: U.N. Security Council resolutions will not make Iran give up uranium enrichment, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday, adding that the world would enjoy peace if it were not for U.S. bullying.
The President spoke in two northwestern towns shortly before the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report that said Iran had ignored a 30-day deadline from the Security Council to suspend enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for power generators or material for nuclear warheads.
The U.N. agency's report also found Iran had failed to answer questions intended to ascertain whether it was attempting to build nuclear weapons.
``After more than three years of agency efforts to seek clarity about all aspects of Iran's nuclear program, the existing gaps in knowledge continue to be a matter of concern,'' said the report.
The deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammed Saeedi, ignored the criticism, saying the IAEA report ''does not contain negative points.''
Speaking from Vienna, where the IAEA is based, Saeedi played down the unanswered questions posed by the agency. ''From our point of view, these few questions are not important. The main questions have been settled,'' he told Iranian state television in a phone interview.
The report's findings pave the way for the Security Council to pass a resolution on Iran, although the United States, Britain and France appear to favor much more aggressive wording than fellow veto powers Russia and China.
``The Iranian nation won't give a damn about such useless resolutions,'' Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Khorramdareh on Friday.
``Those who resort to the language of coercion should know that nuclear energy is a national demand and, by the grace of God, Iran is today a nuclear country,'' state television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
The crowd responded with chants of ``Down With America!'' and ``Nuclear energy is our definite right!''
In the United States, President George W. Bush the world was concerned about Iran's ``desire to have not only a nuclear weapon but the capacity to make a nuclear weapon.''
Bush added he was not discouraged by Iran's vow to defy world pressure, saying: ``I think the diplomatic options are just beginning.''
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said he hoped the Security Council would soon act against Iran. - AP
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