Iran President denies nuclear claims

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied his country is trying to acquire nuclear weapons, insisting "we do not need a bomb".

Mr Ahmadinejad was speaking after the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, welcomed a new move by Tehran to fulfil some of the agency's demands for access to their nuclear programme.

The US has been pushing for tougher UN sanctions against Iran amid suspicions that it is using its civil nuclear energy programme as a cover for the development of nuclear weapons.

He said: "The main problem is the enmity of America towards Iran. From the beginning we said that everything should be solved by the Agency.

"We do not need a bomb. We are against the bomb."

Mr Ahmadinejad brushed off the idea that the US might be preparing for military action against his country.

He added: "There is no programme of attack nor are there any plans of attack - or ability of that.

"There are more important things for a country to take care of. The Americans want to do a lot of things but they are not able to."

Asked if he would stop enriching uranium, Ahmadinejad appeared to deny the existence of such a programme, saying: "You want to tell me something that is not there. Something that doesn't exist... Why are you insisting on something like this? What is the benefit for you?"

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