Iran will not give up its right to enrich uranium despite a growing pressure on it, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Gholamreza Ansari said on Thursday.

"We are not going to give up our legitimate right to enrich uranium... Work will continue despite a growing foreign pressure," Ansari was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

The UN Security Council, which is currently holding consultations on a new resolution on Iran, "may adopt a tougher than in December stance, but this will change nothing," Ansari said.

"Our course is in agreement with international legislation. We are acting strictly within the legal framework," he said, adding that this will be the stance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he speaks at the Security Council during a scheduled trip to New York.

However, "we believe there are opportunities for a dialogue," Ansari said. Iran "stresses that it is open to negotiations."

Ansari hopes that the financial issues emerged in the construction of a nuclear power plant in Bushehr would be settled shortly. The difficulties were "insignificant and cannot be an obstacle for finishing the construction of the power plant in line with the schedule," he said.

The UN Security Council was scheduled to hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss a draft resolution that was agreed on last week by six major states -- Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany.

Diplomats at the United Nations said a vote on the draft, which toughened sanctions against Tehran already adopted by the council last December, was likely to follow a few days later.

Ahmadinejad has planned to attend the voting session of the UN Security Council in New York and make a speech to defend Iran's nuclear rights before the voting takes place.

Source: Xinhua