IRAN:Iran should stand up to the world and press ahead with its nuclear programme, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday.
Iran failed to adhere to a UN Security Council deadline to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can make fuel for power plants or material for warheads, by February 21st. Some countries believe Iran is trying to make an atomic bomb, a charge the Iranians deny, saying they are seeking only to develop nuclear power for electricity.
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, will meet in London next week to discuss possible further steps, in addition to UN sanctions barring the transfer of nuclear technology and know-how that were imposed in December.
"If we show weakness in front of the enemy, the expectations will increase but if we stand against them, because of this resistance, they will retreat," Mr Ahmadinejad said in a speech in northern Iran.
The president said that when Iran had, in the past, compromised over a nuclear programme it insists has only peaceful aims, the West had simply increased its demands.
Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said western threats over Iran's nuclear row would not work.
"They will not get a result this way, it will just make problems for themselves, the world and especially our region," he said in a Friday sermon on state radio.
In the sermon, he also warned Iranians not to use language that would create more problems.
"Extremist people should control their tongue because these days simple statements can also bring danger to the Islamic nation." - (Reuters)