Iran won't yield to pressure says, Iran prez

Tehran, Aug 31: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today Iran would not yield to Western pressure over its rights, on the day of a UN deadline to halt its atomic work.

''They (the West) should know that Iranian nation will not yield to pressure and will not accept any violation of its rights,'' Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech.

Iran has repeatedly said uranium enrichment, which the United Nations has demanded it stop, is its right and will not be abandoned.

The UN Security Council had set an August 31 deadline, demanding Tehran halt uranium enrichment or face possible sanctions.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, will report to the Council today to certify whether Iran has suspended ''all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development''.

The world's fourth largest oil exporter insists it wants nuclear technology only to cope with booming electricity demands, but Western nations say the programme is a smokescreen for producing atomic weapons.

Reuters