Iran vowed yesterday never to shelve its nuclear programme, defying the threat of sanctions as a UN deadline approached for Teheran to stop work that the West fears could lead to atomic bombs.

"The Iranian nation will never abandon its obvious right to peaceful nuclear technology," state radio quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying, as time ran out for Iran to stop enriching uranium.

"(The West) should know the Iranian nation will not yield to pressure and not accept any violation of its rights," he said in a televised speech earlier.

In Salt Lake City, US President George W. Bush, yesterday delivered his starkest threat yet to Teheran.

He told thousands of veterans at the American Legion convention: "There must be consequences for Iran's defiance. We must not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons."

It's not clear when exactly the deadline was to run out.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said on Wednesday that he believed it would end at 0:01 am on Friday in Teheran (4:31 am today, Beijing).

Iran insists it wants atomic energy only for electricity. Western leaders suspect a disguised weapons project and the UN Security Council has ordered it to suspend the work.

"Arrogant powers are against Iran's peaceful nuclear progress. Their pretext and claim is that Iran's peaceful nuclear knowledge might be diverted (into weapons-making) one day. It is a big lie," Ahmadinejad said.

Washington says world powers are poised to begin discussing punitive measures next week against Iran if, as expected, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports Teheran has ignored the UN demand to stop enriching uranium by August 31.

The Security Council asked Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the nuclear watchdog IAEA, to spell out on August 31 if Iran had complied with the deadline set in a July 31 resolution.

ElBaradei's report may state that Iran has stonewalled IAEA inquiries into the nature of its nuclear activity to a standstill, one senior diplomat close to the agency said.

Source: China Daily/agencies