Iran 'united' in Face of Nuclear Deadline

The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, today refused to give up his country's nuclear enrichment programme, despite the threat of UN-imposed sanctions after a deadline passes at midnight tonight.

Mr Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in the western city of Orumiyeh that his country was united behind the programme and would rebuff any attempt to stop it.

"The Iranian nation will not accept for one moment any bullying, invasion and violation of its rights," he said.

Late last night he reiterated his opposition to the sanctions proposals during a meeting with the former Spanish prime minister Philippe Gonzalez.

"Sanctions cannot dissuade Iranians from their decision to make progress," he said. "On the contrary, many of our successes, including access to the nuclear fuel cycle and production of heavy water, have been achieved under sanctions. It would be better for the European countries to make decisions independently and settle the issue through negotiations."

Iran's nuclear programme has been a concern to western diplomats since it announced success in enriching uranium in April.

Tehran argues that the programme is intended solely to produce fuel for civilian nuclear reactors, but the same enrichment process can be used to create material for nuclear bombs and diplomats fear that the civilian programme is being used as a cover for developing atomic weapons.

Iran has turned down Russian offers to supply it with enriched uranium for use in reactors, a deal that would allow Iran to operate nuclear power plants without the threat of atomic weapons.

The UN-backed International Atomic Energy Agency is due to deliver a report today that is expected to confirm that Iran has ignored the sanctions deadline, a formal step that will open the door to security council action.

The New York Times quoted as officials saying the report would confirm that Iran had continued to enrich uranium, although it was not enriching it to the level needed in nuclear bombs.

There are doubts about whether there will be enough unity within the security council to act decisively. Washington is pushing for a swift imposition of sanctions, but Russia and China have strong trade relationships with Iran and are keen to avoid any damaging economic impact. Britain and France, along with the key Iran negotiator, Germany, are thought to favour sanctions but to be less enthusiastic than the US.

Uncertainty over what will happen after the deadline passes pushed oil prices on New York's Mercantile Exchange above $70 a barrel yesterday, returning them to highs last seen during the Lebanon war.