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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed that Iran would pursue fuel production for its controversial nuclear programme and branded those trying to stop this as "bullies."
"We intend to continue our activity ... until we manage industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel for our atomic power stations," Ahmadinejad said Friday, according to a text of his speech at a regional summit in Azerbaijan.
The Iranian president's comments in the Azerbaijani capital Baku came as Western powers, which fear Tehran is concealing a drive for atomic weapons, pushed for a UN resolution requiring an end to uranium enrichment or possible sanctions.
Ahmadinejad told leaders from the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) -- which includes five of Iran's neighbours -- that "bullies are insolently trying to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."
The speech was made behind closed doors, but a copy of the text was obtained by AFP.
Ahmadinejad also hailed his country's nuclear power project as "a great achievement for the whole region and the Islamic world."
But he stressed Iran's desire to work under the scrutiny of the UN's watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency, which last week reported that Tehran had failed to comply with a demand to suspend uranium enrichment.
"Our scientific progress serves the interest of peace and does not threaten a single state," he said. "All the unfounded statements made against Iran cannot influence the will of the Iranian people."
The Iranian president was in Baku for a regional development summit of the 10-nation ECO Group, which includes Iran's neighbours Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.
He called for regional support, saying that "the constructive cooperation of ECO is a very important step. Unfortunately there is injustice in the current international structures."
Ahmadinejad also met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The United States and Europe allege that Iran is trying to acquire nuclear weaponry under cover of a civilian power network currently being built with Russian help.
The draft UN Security Council resolution put forward by Britain and France would legally oblige Iran to comply with UN demands that it suspend uranium enrichment, the process creating fuel for reactors but what can also be the core of an atomic bomb.
Under the proposed resolution, sanctions and even a military assault could be authorised in case of non-compliance.
Iran says it needs enriched uranium as fuel for its civilian programme and refuses to halt the work.
Turkey's foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, said that Erdogan wanted Ahmadinejad to compromise.
"All of us should make efforts for peace. We should insist on diplomatic means and find a compromise," he said.
Iran's neighbours are nervous about the potential fallout in the region of sanctions or any other deterioration. "The most difficult situation will be for neighbouring countries," Azerbaijan's foreign minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, said Thursday.
"We intend to continue our activity ... until we manage industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel for our atomic power stations," Ahmadinejad said Friday, according to a text of his speech at a regional summit in Azerbaijan.
The Iranian president's comments in the Azerbaijani capital Baku came as Western powers, which fear Tehran is concealing a drive for atomic weapons, pushed for a UN resolution requiring an end to uranium enrichment or possible sanctions.
Ahmadinejad told leaders from the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) -- which includes five of Iran's neighbours -- that "bullies are insolently trying to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries."
The speech was made behind closed doors, but a copy of the text was obtained by AFP.
Ahmadinejad also hailed his country's nuclear power project as "a great achievement for the whole region and the Islamic world."
But he stressed Iran's desire to work under the scrutiny of the UN's watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency, which last week reported that Tehran had failed to comply with a demand to suspend uranium enrichment.
"Our scientific progress serves the interest of peace and does not threaten a single state," he said. "All the unfounded statements made against Iran cannot influence the will of the Iranian people."
The Iranian president was in Baku for a regional development summit of the 10-nation ECO Group, which includes Iran's neighbours Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.
He called for regional support, saying that "the constructive cooperation of ECO is a very important step. Unfortunately there is injustice in the current international structures."
Ahmadinejad also met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The United States and Europe allege that Iran is trying to acquire nuclear weaponry under cover of a civilian power network currently being built with Russian help.
The draft UN Security Council resolution put forward by Britain and France would legally oblige Iran to comply with UN demands that it suspend uranium enrichment, the process creating fuel for reactors but what can also be the core of an atomic bomb.
Under the proposed resolution, sanctions and even a military assault could be authorised in case of non-compliance.
Iran says it needs enriched uranium as fuel for its civilian programme and refuses to halt the work.
Turkey's foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, said that Erdogan wanted Ahmadinejad to compromise.
"All of us should make efforts for peace. We should insist on diplomatic means and find a compromise," he said.
Iran's neighbours are nervous about the potential fallout in the region of sanctions or any other deterioration. "The most difficult situation will be for neighbouring countries," Azerbaijan's foreign minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, said Thursday.
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