"If the case is sent or even reported to the UN Security Council, based on the law of our parliament, our government has no way of stopping nuclear activities," said Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs.

"I hope that Europe doesn't choose this line of confrontation," Araghchi said.

"We did whatever we could. But as you know after three years of negotiations we left empty-handed" after talks with Britain, France and Germany to resolve a mounting crisis, Araghchi said.

Araghchi was speaking at the Munich Conference on Security Policy following a speech from German Chancellor Angela Merkel in which she accused Iran of "wilfully overstepping the mark" over its nuclear programme.

In response to Araghchi's comments, Merkel said Iran should consider changing its law.

The board of governors of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was meeting in Vienna Saturday to decide whether to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear programme.

Iran insists it has peaceful motives, but the Western world suspects it is developing nuclear weapons.

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