Iran vows to impose retaliatory sanctions on world powers

"We will also impose sanctions on them," Ahmadinejad told reporters late Sunday in response to a question about a decision by the five permanent Security Council members plus Germany to discuss the prospect of sanctions.

Ahmadinejad did not specify what kind of retaliatory action this would involve. Iran, Opec's second largest producer, has insisted it will not use oil as a weapon in the standoff.

"In the past 27 years they have always threatened us with sanctions and during this time they did everything they could," he said according to the student ISNA and semi-official ILNA agencies.

"They do their thing and in return we will do ours," he said.

In a meeting late on Friday, representatives from the five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany agreed to discuss sanctions against Tehran after it refused to heed a new deadline to halt uranium enrichment.

Senior US official Nicholas Burns said the so-called "5+1" group would start drafting this week a sanctions resolution, although he has admitted finding a consensus on the extent of punitive measures would be difficult.

Iran on Sunday flatly refused to suspend uranium enrichment despite moves at the UN Security Council to draft a sanctions resolution against it for failing to halt the sensitive nuclear work.

"The suspension is completely unacceptable and we have rejected it," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters. "It has no place in Iran's peaceful nuclear programme."

His comments marked an unequivocal refusal from Tehran to back down in the face of pressure to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which the West fears could be diverted towards making nuclear weapons.

"The greatest sanction would be for a generation to deprive its own people and future generations of nuclear technology," he added.

In a meeting late on Friday, representatives of the five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany agreed to discuss sanctions against Tehran after it failed to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment operations.

Senior US official Nicholas Burns said the so-called "5+1" group would start drafting this week a sanctions resolution, although he admitted finding a consensus on the extent of punitive measures would be difficult.