Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly dismissed a UN Security Council resolution demanding that Tehran suspend uranium enrichment activities, telling a large crowd in the northwestern province of Ardebil that Iran would not yield to pressure or coercion.
The Security Council adopted the resolution on 31 July 2006, giving Iran until 31 August to halt enrichment-related work or face possible sanctions. Western nations, led by the United States, suspect Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran consistently denies.
Ahmadinejad said UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had called him to urge a response to an international proposal aimed at resolving the dispute. The president said he expressed willingness to negotiate but added that the resolution had undermined Iranian confidence in the process.
Iran will deliver its formal reply on 22 August, Ahmadinejad confirmed, saying the response would defend what he called the absolute rights of the Iranian people. He declared that Iran had fully mastered the nuclear fuel cycle through domestic means, insisting the program was intended solely for peaceful purposes.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in August 2006, in its own words.