Iran will not stop nuclear energy program - Ahmadinejad

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says hegemonic powers are unable to halt Tehran's nuclear energy program, stating that the Iranian nation will not yield to pressure, Press TV reported.

"On behalf of the Iranian nation, I say that anyone who thinks he can defeat the Iranian nation through pressure should know that he is seriously wrong and that they will take this wish to their grave," Ahmadinejad said in Bushehr Province on Thursday.

The Iranian president also said that enemies cannot deprive the Iranian nation of nuclear technology no matter how much they struggle.

He said that Iran needs to be developed through reliance on indigenous science and national potentials, adding that no one can put the country under pressure or keep it backward if Iran uses its national capacities.

Iran's negotiating team and IAEA held nuclear talks yesterday in Tehran, and according to Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh, at 1st session of Iran-agency's talks some differences of opinion were solved, some modality articles were approved, and it was decided that new proposals made would be surveyed and results would be reported at next session.

The IAEA, whose mission is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, has been trying for a year to negotiate a so-called structured approach with Iran giving the inspectors access to sites, officials and documents for their long-stalled inquiry.

World powers were monitoring the IAEA-Iran talks for any signs as to whether Tehran, facing intensifying sanctions pressure, may be prepared to finally start tackling mounting international concerns about its nuclear activity.

Israel - a U.S. ally believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal - has threatened military action if diplomacy and economic sanctions intended to rein in Iran's uranium enrichment program do not resolve the stand-off.

Iran denies Western accusations that it is seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability, saying its program is aimed only at power generation and medical research.