Iranian President Muhammad al-Khatami has insisted that Tehran will not drop its nuclear programme.

In a meeting with foreign diplomats on Wednesday, al-Khatami also warned that if his country's legitimate demand for gaining access to peaceful nuclear technology was not met by the European Union, then Iran would no longer be obliged to continue negotiations.

"No government, neither mine nor any other, has the right to deprive the nation on its path to technology, including the national nuclear technology," al-Khatami said.

"[There is] no way we would ignore the nation's legitimate will for peaceful nuclear technology and instead give in to illegitimate demands from outside."

Psychological war

Al-Khatami labelled the US threats to Iran on the nuclear-issue as a psychological war, but said "the situation has become more dangerous in this state than before".

"But if the threat rhetoric remained, then also Iran would switch towards a different approach and that would be to no country's benefit," he said.

While reiterating that Iran was not after producing nuclear weapons, the president said that he was even willing to give all relevant guarantees in this regard.

"We are not after nuclear weapons, not after tensions, not after wars, but we are also not ready to be the scapegoat of those powers whose policies have failed," he said, referring to the US' policies in Iraq.

"We have suspended uranium enrichment voluntarily and for showing our goodwill towards the global society, but we never agreed for anything permanent," al-Khatami said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Mohammed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, left, and Kamal Kharrazi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, participate in a panel session on Non-Proliferation, during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in this Jan. 29, 2005. (AP)