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Last update - 11:16 24/02/2008 Iran: Sanctions for 100 years won't stop our nuclear program By Reuters and The Associated Press Tags: nuclear, Iran, sanctions  TEHRAN - World powers can pass United Nations sanctions resolutions for 100 years without deterring Iran from its nuclear ambitions, Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday. Ahmadinejad's defiant comments came one day after a report, released Friday by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed that Iran has continued to enrich uranium in defiance of repeated UN Security Council resolutions demanding that it suspend the uranium centrifuge program, which could produce both civilian nuclear fuel and the material for a nuclear bomb. Tehran insists its plans are peaceful. But the United States, which has accused Iran of seeking to build nuclear bombs, said Friday's International Atomic Energy Agency report was a good reason to impose more, even tighter UN sanctions against Iran. Advertisement "If they want to continue with that path [of sanctions], we will not be harmed. They can issue resolutions for 100 years," the president told state television in an interview. Those leading the bid to impose more penalties, an apparent reference to Washington, and its allies could not "bring the Iranian nation to its knees," he said. "If they continue [with this pressure], we have designed reciprocal actions," he said without elaborating. Iranian officials have previously warned that the Islamic Republic could reconsider its cooperation with the IAEA, if pushed. The president declared the IAEA report a "victory" for the Iranian nation, pointing to areas of the document which showed Iranian cooperation had cleared up suspicions. Other Iranian officials and media have echoed those sentiments since the report's publication, making little reference to other aspects of the report where doubts remain. The IAEA said it had confronted Iran for the first time with Western intelligence showing work linked to making nuclear bombs and said Tehran had not given satisfactory answers. In the interview, the president recounted Iran's row with the West since 2002 when an exiled Iranian opposition group exposed parts of the Islamic Republic's program that had been kept hidden, including a uranium enrichment facility. "The path showed that every time we retreat they move forward, and whenever we resist, they have to retreat," he said. He said Iran would not reverse a peaceful program which the nation considered its right. Tehran insists it is seeking to master nuclear technology so it can make fuel for a planned network of nuclear power plants and save its huge oil and gas reserves for export. Iran has failed to convince world powers about its peaceful aims. Britain and France have said they hope the UN Security Council will vote next week on a third round of sanctions. In an earlier message to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word in all state matters including nuclear policy, the president said the IAEA report was a victory over "domineering powers". Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Iran was continuing to hamper the IAEA's investigation. "Israel is convinced that the international community must increase its pressure on Iran in order to ensure it does not obtain nuclear weapons," the statement said. "The [IAEA] report reconfirms the State of Israel and the international community's concerns that Iran is continuing its pursuit of nuclear weapons," the statement continued. Date set for Ahmadinejad's landmark visit to Iraq Iran on Sunday set March 2 as the date for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landmark visit to Iraq, in the first confirmation of the event from the Iranian side. Earlier in the month, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had said that the first ever visit by the head of state of the Islamic Republic would be March 2 and he would meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani in the course of his two day visit. "The visit is tentatively set for March 2," spokesman of Iran's Foreign Ministry, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, told reporters in his weekly news briefing. "We are working on fixing the exact date for the visit." Hosseini said the visit was in response to an invitation by the Iraqi government and occurs in the framework of friendly ties. Related articles: Ahmadinejad warns against 'new game' in nuclear dispute ahead of IAEA report Iranian official: Countdown to Israel's destruction has begun News / Iranian exile group says Teheran steps up its nuclear arms program Bookmark to del.icio.us   Holocaust row U.K. Tory chief draws fire for calling school visits to Auschwitz a gimmick. 5 Stops in Galilee Rock hares, peach orchards, a taste of the past, and walking the Jesus trail.   1.   Why Is This Iran Thing Beginning To Sound Like... 11:42  |  Yosemite 24/02/08   2.   Iran is quite right. They are on their way.... 12:50  |  Stephen. 24/02/08   3.   The question is whether Iran is headed towards the nuclear age 14:09  |  Ehud 24/02/08   4.   100 years? That sounds good 14:36  |  Conroy 24/02/08   5.   Iranian Right 15:27  |  The Guru 24/02/08   6.   Racist fanatic Ahmadinejad openly defies the world 18:36  |  Shalom Freedman 24/02/08

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