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Iran to defend its right to civilian nuclear technology - pres. - 1

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Iran will not give up its right to civilian nuclear power, the country's president said Friday.
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TEHRAN, February 23 (RIA Novosti) - Iran will not give up its right to civilian nuclear power, the country's president said Friday.

The Islamic Republic 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 has always denied the claims.

"The Iranian nation is ready to defend its right to civilian nuclear technology until the end and will not back down a single step," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

The secretary general of the International Atomic Energy Agency is to present a report on Iran's nuclear problem to the UN Security Council Friday.

The Islamic Republic that insists its nuclear program is peaceful ignored the deadline set by the UN Security Council, which expired Wednesday, and could now face stringent sanctions and isolation.

Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA secretary general, said Thursday the Islamic Republic was continuing enrichment activities and was working to build more centrifuges in its underground center in Natanz in an apparent effort to reach an industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel.

ElBaradei, however, said Iranian authorities had given UN inspectors access to all requested nuclear sites and documents and presented detailed reports on the use and storage of nuclear materials in line with Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty provisions.

Iran is already under sanctions from the UN Security Council imposed December 23, which ban nuclear technology deliveries to and restrict financial transactions with the country.

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