The hardliner also vowed that Iran will not back down "one iota" in the face of international pressures over the atomic work, which the West fears may be a cover for weapons development despite Iran's persistent denial.

"They issued several resolutions and sanctioned Iran ... They think Iranians will fall on their knees over these things but they are mistaken," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in southern Iran carried live on state television.

"We are not interested in conflicts (but) you are continually demanding things," he said to world powers, led by the United States, which are seeking to curb Iran's atomic ambitions.

"They should not think they can put up obstacles in Iranians' way ... I assure the people ... that the government will whole-heartedly defend Iran's rights and will not back down one iota," he said.

Iran is already under three sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its defiance and refusal to suspend enrichment, which lies at the heart of international fears about its nuclear programme.

The process that makes nuclear fuel can also be used to make the fissile core of an atomic bomb.

World powers gave Iran until the end of 2009 to accept a UN-brokered deal to ship most of Iran's low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad to be further refined into reactor fuel by Russia and France.

But the deadline was ignored, prompting talk of fresh sanctions against the Islamic republic.

Iran has in return insisted on its counter-proposal of a staged swap of LEU for nuclear reactor fuel.

Some Western powers have dismissed Iran's proposal and asked Tehran to accept an offer made by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which surfaced during talks in October between Iran and permanent Security Council members plus Germany.

But Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Tehran was still awaiting a response from world powers on its proposal.

"We have sent them a message which was well received," Mottaki was quoted a saying by Fars news agency on Saturday.

"We are waiting to receive a practical response... and then we will announce our views," he said.

The Iranian leadership has also drawn international condemnation over its treatment of anti-government protests triggered by Ahmadinejad's June 12 disputed re-election.

On Saturday Ahmadinejad dismissed criticism of Iran over human rights as a "game."

"They cannot break the people and the Islamic republic by such pressure and propaganda," he said after inaugurating a new aluminium plant in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

The US administration is reportedly crafting new financial sanctions targeting the Iranian entities and individuals most directly involved in the crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Citing unnamed US officials, the Wall Street Journal said on Saturday that US Treasury Department strategists had already been focusing on Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has emerged as the economic and military power behind supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad.

earlier related report
UAE, Bonn urge Iran to abandon 'uncooperative' nuclear stand
Abu Dhabi (AFP) Jan 10, 2010 - The United Arab Emirates and Germany said on Sunday that Iran must do more to allay the international community's concerns about its nuclear programme or fresh sanctions would be likely.

Following a meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said he hoped Iran would cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog.

"We are very concerned about Iran's non-transparent behaviour with regard to its nuclear programme," he said after talks with his visiting German counterpart, Guido Westerwelle.

"That is based on its lack of cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). We want more active cooperation from Iran. That would be in the interests of the world, the region and Iran itself."

Sheikh Abdullah noted that the UN Security Council could soon pass a fourth round of sanctions to try to force Iran to abandon sensitive nuclear work, which the West fears is a cover for an atomic weapons programme.

Tehran denies wanting to acquire a nuclear bomb.

"We hope that Iran will behave so cooperatively that sanctions will not be necessary," the UAE foreign minister said.

"We in the United Arab Emirates as a neighbour state are particularly affected by what Iran is targeted by but also everything it does."

He added that his country could serve as an "example" for the transparent use of nuclear energy, pointing to a 20.4-billion-dollar deal with South Korea to build four nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates.

Westerwelle, who is on a tour of Gulf states and whose country is one of six working to convince Tehran to cooperate with the IAEA, said he and Abdullah were in "broad agreement."

The ministers also discussed the security of Yemen amid reports that Westerwelle planned to visit the strife-ridden country on Monday, and negotiations to end a continuing hostage crisis there.

Westerwelle declined to comment directly on either issue.

"The hostage-taking is of course a barbaric act that we condemn," he said, referring to a German family of five and a Briton who were abducted in Yemen last June.

"We are doing everything we can to allow the hostages to return to their loved ones," he said, but declined to discuss specifics.

On Yemen, Westerwelle said: "I would not like to talk about travel plans at this time for various reasons."

Delegation sources also said they would not confirm the reports.

Long-standing concerns that Yemen has become a haven for Islamic militants were thrown into sharp focus when a Nigerian man allegedly trained in Yemen was charged with trying to blow up a US-bound jet on December 25.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed the botched attack and has called for attacks on Western interests in Yemen.

Germany is by far the largest European contributor of development aid to Yemen with some 79 million euros (114 million dollars) earmarked for the impoverished country for 2010-2011.

During talks earlier on Sunday in Doha with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, and the emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Westerwelle also discussed Yemen.

Sources said the emir and Westerwelle agreed that a lasting solution to the internal conflicts on its borders, with a Shiite rebellion in the north and the rise of a secessionist movement in the south, could only come through dialogue.

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