Ahmadinejad remains defiant over Iran nuclear programme

guardian.co.uk

As UN security council prepares to vote on further sanctions, president says fuel swap deal offers 'opportunity that will not be repeated' for US and allies

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said a nuclear swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil was an opportunity that should not be missed for the US and its allies. Photograph: Burhan Ozbilici/AP

The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, today said his country would not give any more ground on its nuclear programme as the UN security council prepared to vote on more sanctions against Tehran.

Ahmadinejad said a fuel swap deal, negotiated with Turkey and Brazil, was an opportunity for the US and its allies to break the deadlock that would "not be repeated".

The deal resurrected elements of a UN-backed offer for Tehran to part with 1,200kg of low enriched uranium – potential nuclear weapons material – in return for special fuel rods to make medical isotopes.

US officials have criticised the deal as too little, too late – partly because it would not stop Iran enriching uranium – and described it as an attempt to delay sanctions.

"The meeting in Tehran [where the deal was brokered] created an opportunity for the US administration and for its allies, and we still hope that they will be able to use this opportunity," Ahmadinejad said.

"We say that this opportunity will not be repeated."

He warned that, if the US failed to change its stance, "the first ones to lose would be President Obama and the people of the United States".

Speaking on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in Istanbul, Ahmadinejad also criticised Russia – whose prime minister, Vladimir Putin, was attending the conference – for backing the sanctions.

Although Russia, together with China, worked to dilute some of the stronger proposed measures, the Iranian leader warned it to "be careful not to be beside the enemies of the Iranian people".

The vote on fresh sanctions could happen as early as tomorrow, and is expected to encounter little resistance.

Turkey, Brazil and Lebanon are not expected to vote for the resolution, but none has a veto.

The draft resolution calls for measures against new Iranian banks abroad if a connection to Iran's nuclear or missile programmes is suspected, as well as vigilance over transactions with any Iranian bank, including the central bank. It would also expand the UN arms embargo against Tehran.

Western powers fear Iran is covertly developing nuclear weapons but the Tehran regime maintains it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes.