IRAN: "THE NUCLEAR CASE IS FINISHED, WE HAVE CLOSED IT"..."OUR NATION CONQUERED THE PEAK"...

Iran: Sanctions won't stop nuclear program

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran will continue its nuclear program even if the United Nations imposes sanctions, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Sunday, referring to the gathering international momentum toward punishing Iran for its enrichment of uranium.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also brushed off the threat of U.N. Security Council sanctions, telling state TV: "The nuclear case is already finished. We have closed it."

"Our nation conquered the peak" of nuclear technology, Ahmadinejad said while touring a vote-counting center in Tehran that was tabulating the results of Friday's local elections.

Last week, Western officials said Britain, France, Germany, the U.S., Russia and China were making progress toward a U.N. Security Council resolution that would impose penalties on Iran for its refusal to cease uranium enrichment — a process that can produce material for nuclear reactors or bombs.

The United States and some of its allies believe Iran is using a civilian nuclear program to build atomic bombs — a charge Iran denies.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in his weekly briefing that his government would respond to the draft resolution "in due time."

"Since our nuclear activities have been in the international framework and regulations, we will continue them even if sanctions are imposed," Hosseini said.

Iran argues that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, it is entitled to the peaceful use of enrichment, and that its nuclear program is entirely for the generation of electricity.

However, the U.N. nuclear watchdog has told Iran to cease enrichment until it has fully answered questions about the scope of its nuclear program.

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