Iran defiant as nuclear deadline looms

Iran will not agree to suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by the UN Security Council, the Foreign Ministry said today.

Iran will not agree to suspend uranium enrichment as demanded by the UN Security Council, the Foreign Ministry said today.

"Suspension is unacceptable. There is no ground to do that. This issue belongs to the past. There is no legal and logical justification for that," spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a weekly news conference.

The UN has given Tehran until February 21st to halt its nuclear programme which some countries believe is an attempt to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran insists its work is a legitimate programme to develop nuclear energy.