February 26, 2007	Monday	Safar 8, 1428

TEHRAN, Feb 25: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday defied Western threats to impose more sanctions over Iran’s contested nuclear programme, comparing its atomic drive to a “train with no brakes.” Ahmadinejad’s declaration came a day before the UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany are to meet to discuss more possible punitive measures against Tehran.“Iran has reached the technology to produce nuclear fuel and Iran's movement on this path is like a train on a one-way track with no room for stopping, reverse gear or braking,” the president told a gathering of religious leaders.

“A while ago, we threw away the reverse gear and the brakes of the train and we announced to them that this Iranian train has no reverse gear or braking,” the ISNA and Fars news agencies quoted him as saying.

The UN Security Council in December imposed limited sanctions against Tehran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that the West fears could be used to make nuclear weapons.

A report by the UN atomic watchdog has confirmed that Iran is still continuing with uranium enrichment work in defiance of the UN Security Council, opening the way towards possible further sanctions.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brushed aside Iran's latest statements and reaffirmed her offer of negotiations if Tehran suspends uranium enrichment.

“We're leaving open the track of negotiations, because the best way to resolve this would be to have Iran come to the table,” she said in an interview on Fox News Sunday.

“We have prepared ourselves for any situation, even if war happens,” Deputy Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mohammadi told the ISNA news agency.

He added that Iran was prepared for talks with the United States but without preconditions.

“We have had unofficial meetings with Americans over Afghanistan and Iraq, but they say first Iran should accept US conditions and then the talks take place,” Mr Mohammadi said.

Mr Ahmadinejad shrugged off the impact of a resolution against Iran, saying such a move would neither hurt the Islamic republic economically nor affect the progress of the nuclear programme.

“They think they can hurt us economically. Since they have threatened us and issued a resolution against us we have had record contracts. They cannot do anything,” Mr Ahmadinejad said.

“Our revolution is going fast towards the summit like a bulldozer. The enemies think they can stop this bulldozer by throwing a few pebbles at it.

They then magnify their small pebbles 500 times in psychological warfare ”Monday's meeting in London between diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States will seek to hammer out a consensus on how to bring Tehran into compliance.

The Security Council could meet as early as the coming week, with the London meeting between US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns and his counterparts laying the groundwork.—AFP