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Iran ready to face West over nuclear program - pres.

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Iranians will continue to make full use of peaceful nuclear energy and disregard opposition from countries speaking the language of force, the president said Wednesday.
TEHRAN, February 21 (RIA Novosti) - Iranians will continue to make full use of peaceful nuclear energy and disregard opposition from countries speaking the language of force, the president said Wednesday.

Speaking on the day when the UN Security Council's deadline for Iran to halt uranium enrichment expires, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the Islamic Republic would not give up research in the nuclear fuel cycle.

"After the Iranian nation fully obtains peaceful nuclear energy technologies, two important events will take place: firstly, Iran will quickly become one of the world's most powerful nations, and secondly, other countries will follow suit," Ahmadinejad said.

Iran has consistently rejected allegations that it seeks nuclear weapons, saying it only wants nuclear fuel for energy regeneration, which is in line with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to move down the path to achieve successes in the nuclear sector, and we will not budge an inch," Ahmadinejad said earlier on Wednesday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, British military sources told the British magazine The New Statesman Monday that the U.S. military "switched its whole focus to Iran" after Saddam Hussein was toppled in Iraq.

Iran has been under international pressure since it resumed uranium enrichment in January 2006, which some Western countries suspect is part of a covert nuclear weapons program. Tehran says it needs nuclear power for energy.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in December imposing sanctions against Iran banning sensitive technology transfers to and restricting financial transactions with the country.

The issue will return to the Security Council, where the U.S. is expected to push for more sanctions, following a report by International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei.

Further sanctions could result in a complete or partial severing of economic, diplomatic and other ties with Iran.

Russia, a key economic partner of Iran, has consistently supported the Islamic Republic's right to nuclear power under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and has resisted the imposition of harsh sanctions.

Russia is building a nuclear power plant in Bushehr in southern Iran, a project worth $1 billion, the contract was signed in 1995.

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