Iran said today it will reject any UN resolution seeking an end to its atomic fuel work and ratcheted up its rhetoric about following North Korea out the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The defiance came as US President George W. Bush said Iran posed a threat to Israel and other countries.
A draft UN Security Council resolution, fashioned by Britain and France and backed by the United States, will ask that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment activities.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted by official IRNA news agency as saying: "They should know that the Iranians will dash their illegitimate resolution against the wall."
Iran says it wants atomic fuel for power stations, not bombs, but has failed to convince the international community.
The draft UN resolution seeks to invoke Chapter 7, making the resolution binding under international law and would allow for sanctions and even war, although a separate resolution is required to specify either of those steps.
France and Britain said on Saturday they hoped for a vote next week.
They hope to use the intervening period to win round the unconvinced Chinese and Russian delegations.