Iran has vowed not to compromise in its nuclear dispute with the West and said it would not be bullied.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has said Tehran will not be bullied in its nuclear dispute with the West.
Iranian preisdent says Tehran will not be bullied
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said Iran was probably the number one challenge for Washington and would be a major threat to US Middle East interests if it acquired atomic bombs. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for civilian use.
Speaking a day after it became clear the UN Security Council would consider action over the Iran standoff, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - ultimate decision-maker in the Islamic Republic - urged officials not to give in to Western pressure.
"If the Iranian nation and government step back on nuclear energy today, the story will not end there and the Americans will make another pretext," Mr Khamenei told senior clerics.
But he also called for "wisdom and expediency" in handling the issue, a reference to muted internal criticism of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other senior officials regarded by some to have antagonised the West with needlessly inflammatory statements.
"This nation . . . will not allow others to treat it with a bullying attitude, even if [they] are international bullies," Mr Ahmadinejad said in a speech in western Iran.
"They know they are not capable of inflicting the slightest blow on the Iranian nation because they need the Iranian nation. They will suffer more and they are vulnerable," he said.
Russia, anxious to avert any move to impose UN sanctions on Iran, urged Tehran to cooperate with UN nuclear inspectors. The five permanent members of the Security Council meet again today.
Ms Rice said Tehran's vision of the Middle East was totally opposed to Washington's, repeating concerns that Iran was backing anti-Israel militants and meddling in neighbouring Iraq.
She told a congressional hearing in Washington that the threat from Iran could grow exponentially.