TEHRAN, Aug 27: Iran underscored on Sunday its determination to produce nuclear fuel just four days before a UN Security Council deadline to freeze the sensitive work or face the risk of sanctions.

And in a fresh show of its military might, Iran test-fired a long range radar-evading sea-to-air missile during war games it says aim to demonstrate its readiness for “any threat.”

But the Islamic regime said it remained keen to hold talks on Western concerns about its nuclear programme and revealed that UN chief Kofi Annan was due in Tehran on Saturday, two days after the deadline.

“Production of nuclear fuel is one of Iran’s strategic objectives,” lead negotiator Ali Larijani told state radio. “Any action to limit or deprive Iran could not force Iran to give up this goal.”

Despite the apparent inflexibility, Mr Larijani later said Iran was ready for ministerial level talks on its nuclear ambitions with Western powers.

“Iran is ready to hold discussions with the foreign ministers of the five permanent Security Council members and Germany, wherever and whenever,” Mr Larijani said.

“These talks could include all questions between the two sides, in particular the nuclear issue.”

But Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Reza Bagheri insisted during a visit to Syria that a formal moratorium on enrichment was out of the question.

“While cooperating with international institutions, we consider the suspension of enrichment as our red line,” Mr Bagheri was quoted as saying in Damascus by Iran’s official news agency IRNA.

“We insist on our right because we want to utilize nuclear technology for peaceful ends,” he added.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also said that despite Iran’s strong line on enrichment, it remained open to new talks. “It is about time the European side returned to the negotiating table without prejudgments and bad humour so that we talk and reach a result,” he told reporters. “We gave our response to the European side and showed we support talks.”

“In our response we have touched on the issue of enrichment. Our response is clear and comprehensive,” Mr Asefi said. “Europeans must first read it carefully and then come to talk.”

The deputy head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation said Tehran planned to build a new light water reactor to produce electricity.—AFP