Iran on Sunday rejected the UN Security Council ultimatum for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment by Aug. 31.

"The United Nations has no right to ask Iran to halt enrichment, Iran has not violated any obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), so we will reject the resolution," Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told a news conference.

"If they seek to deprive the Iranian nation of the nuclear technology, they are in deep mistake," Larijani said, describing full access to the nuclear technology as Iran's major strategy and national demand.

The UN Security Council on Monday adopted a resolution by a vote of 14 to 1, asking Tehran to "suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development" by Aug. 31 or face possible sanctions.

While the resolution marked the first time the UN Security Council passed a legally binding document on Iran's nuclear issue, it still left some room for Tehran to maneuver.

Due to insistence of council members such as Russia and China, the resolution dropped the threat of immediate sanctions and required the council to hold further discussions before sanctions are considered.

The resolution was expected to increase pressure on Iran to accept a package presented by the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany in June.

Larijani termed the resolution as "contrary" to the six-nation package, while reiterating that Iran will give a formal response to the proposal by Aug. 22.

The proposal includes both incentives aimed at persuading Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and possible sanctions if Iran does not comply.

"The package has potential to resolve the nuclear issues, we want to hold talks to remove the ambiguities in it, but they issued a resolution and kill it (the six-nation package). They must explain why they damaged the path of dialogue," Larijani said.

While not making direct threat to use Iran's oil as a weapon, Larijani vowed that his country would hit back if sanctions were imposed.

"We do not want anyone to shiver with cold in the world, and we wish all to have a very good life," he said. "But if they push Iran to the corner Iran is left with no other option but using all its possibilities to defend its rights."

As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)'s second largest exporter that sells 2.5 million barrels of crude oil abroad per day, any reduction or stop in Iran's export would make world oil prices even higher.

Larijani also said that Iran could expand its nuclear activities by assembling more centrifuges used for uranium enrichment.

Iran has planned to increase the number of centrifuges to 3,000 by 2006 in order to industrialize enrichment activity.

The United States has accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons under a civilian front, a charge denied by Tehran which insists that its nuclear program is for fully peaceful purposes.

Source: Xinhua