Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday said that his country wants to have 60,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Ahmadinejad made the remarks during a tour of the state-run television, which corrected an earlier report saying that the Islamic Republic wanted to have 100,000 centrifuges for its nuke program.

ISNA reported earlier that Iran wanted to have 100,000 centrifuges for its nuke program. But it soon corrected the figure by saying that the country intended to install 60,000 centrifuges.

"We intend to have 60,000 centrifuges and, God willing, Iran will be able to meet its needs in nuclear fuel by next year," Ahmadinejad was quoted as stressing.

The Iranian president also defended Iran's nuclear fuel program, saying that Tehran's nuclear activities were totally transparent and carried out within the framework of the international laws.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad accused "certain powers" of violating Iran's national rights, saying that "certain global powers are trying to maintain their monopoly on the nuclear fuel technology, but the Iranian nation's path is clear."

He stressed that Iran was always in favor of dialogue, but "no one is allowed to trample on the rights of our nation".

"U.S. and Israeli pressures aimed at violating the Iranian nation's rights will lead nowhere," Ahmadinejad added.

Iran has so far built two cascades of 164 centrifuges each for uranium enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear fuel or, in much higher grades, the core of an atom bomb.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said earlier this month that Iran plans to install 3,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment by March 2007.

Asked whether Tehran would execute its plan to install 3,000 centrifuges by the end of the current Iranian year, which will end on March 20, 2007, the spokesman answered that "Iranian officials and experts are still seeking to carry out this (plan)."

The United States has been seeking to impose sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council on the grounds that Tehran is developing a nuclear-weapon program under the guise of a civilian-use program.

However, Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and voiced hope for talks on the nuclear standoff. But the Islamic Republic rejected a prerequisite of suspending nuclear work for such talks.