Iran's president defies U.N. on deadline to stop uranium enrichment

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's president defiantly refused to compromise as a U.N. deadline for his country to stop enriching uranium arrived Thursday, saying Tehran won't be bullied into giving up its right to nuclear technology.

President Bush said "there must be consequences" for Tehran, adding that "the world now faces a grave threat from the radical regime in Iran."

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran showed no signs of freezing enrichment, adding that Tehran started work on a new batch Aug. 24.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the U.N. Security Council must be ready to impose sanctions. He added, however, that it will wait to take action until the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, meets with Iran's top negotiator, Ali Larijani, sometime next week.

Iran's refusal to cooperate fully with the IAEA and its continued development of nuclear technology leaves no doubt that it is seeking a nuclear bomb, Bolton told reporters. Iran contends its program is for peaceful purposes.

The confidential IAEA report will be given to its 35-nation board. That is expected to trigger U.N. Security Council members — by mid-September — to begin considering economic or political sanctions.

Bolton said unanimity in the council is not needed — a reference to continued Chinese and Russian reluctance to move quickly on sanctions.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was defiant, telling a crowd of thousands in the northwestern city of Orumiyeh "the Iranian nation will not accept for one moment any bullying, invasion and violation of its rights."

He also said enemies of the country were trying to stir up differences among the Iranian people, but "I tell them: you are wrong. The Iranian nation is united."

"They claim to be supporting freedom but they support the most tyrannical governments in the world to pursue their own interests," he said, referring to the United States. "They talk about human rights while maintaining the most notorious prisons. Those powers that do not abide by God and follow evil are the main source of all the current problems of mankind."

Mohammad Saeedi, the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, insisted the IAEA report showed Iran's cooperation. "Although the report does not meet our satisfaction ... it indicates that the U.S. groundless claims were based on the U.S. officials' illusions," Saeedi was quoted as saying by the state news agency.