TEHRAN, Jan 21: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed on Sunday that Iran will never bow to UN resolutions over its nuclear programme, as the military prepared for war games that will include short-range missile tests.

“Even if they adopt 10 other resolutions it will not have any effect,” Ahamdinejad told parliament as he introduced a new budget for the Iranian year starting March 21.The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1737 on Dec 23 imposing sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment -- the process which can not only make nuclear fuel, but also, in highly purified forms, produce the fissile core of an atomic bomb.

Reciting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's emphatic rejection of the UN resolution on January 8, the president said: “No Iranian official has the right to back down on Iran's nuclear right.” Iranian state television revealed on its website that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards would on Monday begin three days of military exercises, 140 kilometres southeast of Tehran.

“In these exercises we will assess the operational capabilities of Zelzal and Fajr 5 missiles,” an artillery commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Majid Ayeneh, was quoted as saying.

Military sources say the Fajr 5 has a range of around 75 kilometres, whereas the Zelzal is reported to have a range of 100 to 400 kilometres.

Iran, OPEC's second largest oil exporter, says its nuclear programme is solely aimed at meeting civilian energy needs.

But the United States, the European Union and Israel fear it could lead to Iran developing its own nuclear arsenal -- dramatically changing the balance of power in the Middle East and Central Asia.

The United States has also blamed Iran, together with Syria, for fomenting unrest in Iraq.

On Saturday, Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Iran's armed forces were ready for any threat to its nuclear installations, amid speculation that the United States and Israel are planning a military strike.

What war? It is all propaganda. “The Iranian nation, the government, the parliament and the Supreme Leader are standing firm and we are ready for any circumstances.” Asked what he thought of an imminent move by the European Union for full and rapid implementation of UN sanctions, Ahmedinijad replied: “I find it highly unlikely for anything to happen.”—AFP