Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said US-led efforts to put a draft resolution to the Security Council would make ending the standoff even harder and even have consequences for the wider Middle East region.

His comments came after the European Union -- whose foreign policy chief Javier Solana held several rounds of talks with Larijani in search of a solution to the standoff -- declared the issue must now go the United Nations.

"If the Europeans give into US pressure, the situation will radicalise in such a way that Iran will suffer the least and the West will suffer the most," Larijani told the Mehr news agency in an interview.

"Any new resolution would push further back the chance of an agreement.

"If the other side tries to pass a resolution and exercise pressure and threats, then Iran will not stay indifferent," added Larijani, in his first public comments for several days on the nuclear issue.

He reiterated warnings that Iran could suspend its policy of allowing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out checks on its nuclear sites.

Security Council moves "would also be perceived by Iran as a threat to our security and will have consequences for our attitude towards the agency," he said.

"The path of sanctions and an illegal hardening is a path along which a reciprocal reaction from Iran can be expected."

Larijani referred to a bill proposed by parliament and already adopted by its security commission that would automatically suspend inspections if sanctions were imposed.

He said he did not "favour" such a move but also warned that parliament was right to "defend the natural interests of Iran".

Hamid Reza Hadji Babaie, a member of the security commission, said parliament would vote on the law immediately after any sanctions resolution was agreed by the Security Council.

"The government would be obliged to expel the inspectors and this law would be applied as long the sanctions were in force," he said, according to Mehr.

Larijani also said that if sanctions are pursued, this "will accentuate the regional crisis" in the Middle East.

"The adventurist actions of the United States (against Iran at the Security Council) would have consequences on a regional scale," he added, without elaborating.

The sanctions action against Iran is looming after Tehran failed to heed repeated deadlines to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which the West fears could be diverted to make nuclear weapons.

However Iran insists its atomic programme is aimed solely at generating energy and that it has every right to enrich uranium under the Non-Proliferation Treaty as part of its drive to master the full nuclear fuel cycle.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier predicted Western powers would not be able halt Iran's drive to master the nuclear cycle. It has so far succeed in enriching uranium to almost five percent on an experimental scale.

"Some oppressive countries intend to create discord in order to dissuade the Iranian nation from reaching the summits of dignity and glory, including using nuclear technology for peaceful purposes," said Ahmadinejad.

"But with God's kindness they will be defeated in this arena too," he added, according to the IRNA agency.

The United States is seeking a step-by-step sanctions regime, to be implemented through multiple UN resolutions that would ramp up pressure on Iran if it persists with its nuclear work.

The first set of measures is expected to focus on preventing the supply of material and funding for Iran's ballistic missile programme or its nuclear drive.

Other steps could include asset freezes and travel bans on officials.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.