Iran has reaffirmed on Sunday that the Islamic republic "will not halt" uranium enrichment. Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi warned the UN Security Council against passing a resolution calling for a halt of Iran's sensitive nuclear research.

"Any action by the Security Council will have a negative influence on our cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Asefi told a weekly press conference." Suspension and pause is not on the agenda at all, and the Security Council should not do something that will get it into trouble later on," he added.

He repeated the threat that Tehran would halt IAEA inspections if the UN Security Council adopted such a resolution. "The involvement of the UN Security Council will direct the path of cooperation towards confrontation," said the spokesman. Five permanent members of the UN Security Council are discussing a draft resolution presented by Britain and France that would legally require Iran to freeze all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.

Iran says the uranium enrichment is to make nuclear fuel. The United States has accused Iran of trying to make nuclear weapons, but Tehran has repeatedly rejected such accusations.