Nuclear retreat rejected amid threat of sanctions

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that threats of more sanctions would not deter Iran from pursuing its peaceful nuclear plans, which the West says are aimed at producing atomic bombs.

"Whatever they do, Iran will continue its activities. Sanctions are not important," Ahmadinejad told a news conference. "The era of such threats has ended."

The United States, Britain and France this week vowed to seek harsher sanctions on Teheran over its defiance of UN demands for full disclosure and a suspension of uranium enrichment, a process that has both civilian and military uses.