TEHRAN, July 1: Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tehran will continue its uranium enrichment program despite international calls to halt the sensitive project, state television reported on Saturday.

“The Iranian government and the people have decided, and without any doubt with dignity and glory we will pass this phase,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying from Gambia after explaining Iran’s fuel cycle programme to Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo.

Ahmadinejad is in Gambia to address the African Union summit. World powers gave Iran one more week on Thursday to provide a response to an international proposal on suspending uranium enrichment, but Tehran immediately rejected the deadline.—AFP