Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has said that a draft UN Security Council resolution seeking to impose sanctions on Tehran is a "psychological move," the official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.

Concerns of the West, especially the United States, over Iran's nuclear program had no legal basis, Larijani said in a television interview Wednesday night.

He said that Iran's response to the package of incentives offered by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany was "logical."

The rejection of the logical response under pressure from Washington showed that they did not want to "logically settle the issue" through continued negotiations, Larijani said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will respond appropriately to any move by the West against it," he said.

Larijani said that he would visit Russia later this week for talks on his country's nuclear energy program.

The United States has been seeking to impose sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council on the grounds that Tehran is developing a nuclear-weapon program under the guise of a civilian- use program.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and voiced hope for talks on the nuclear standoff. But the Islamic Republic rejected a prerequisite of suspending nuclear work for such talks.

Source: Xinhua