Iran should never yield to US pressure over its nuclear programme, state media quoted Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying today.
The United States has accused Iran of using its domesticnuclear energy programme as a smokescreen for steps to buildatomic weapons. Iran says it needs nuclear power to meet booming domestic demand for electricity.
Khamenei said Iran's nuclear programme was geared topeaceful ends and the Islamic Republic's religious principles prevented it from ever resorting to atomic weapons.
"The United States is treating the whole world as if nationswere indebted to it; showing any sign of weakness, and anytendency to yield to US demands would be the gravest strategic mistake," he said in a speech to Iranian ambassadors last night carried by television and the state news agency (IRNA).
"We cannot compromise over our fundamentals, just in orderto please a part of the world that . . . is headed by the arrogant United States," he added.
Khamenei made no reference to the Additional Protocol to thenuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that the international community is pressuring Iran to sign. The protocol would allow snap inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.
Khamenei's comments underscored growing signs of resistanceto signing the Additional Protocol among the nation'sconservative leadership.
However, Iranian political analyst Mr Hossein Rassam saidKhamenei's speech was rather an exhortation to Iranians topreserve their independence and not buckle under US pressure.