TEHRAN, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged on Saturday that his country would "firmly" defend the goals of its nuclear program in all talks on the issue.

    Ahmadinejad made the pledge in a speech in the northwestern town of Maku, according to media reports.

    He was quoted as saying that "the people will not give in by one iota in their desire to use nuclear energy for peaceful ends and officials have the duty to defend these objectives with firmness during negotiations."

    Earlier on Friday, one day after Tehran disregarded a UN Security Council deadline for it to suspend uranium enrichment, the Iranian president also vowed that his country would never give up its right of exploiting peaceful nuclear energy.

    "Exploitation of peaceful nuclear energy is our undeniable right," Ahmadinejad told a rally, adding "the Iranian people will never give up their legal right."

    The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in late July urging Tehran to suspend by Aug. 31 all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, or face prospect of sanctions.

    On Thursday, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohammed ElBaradei presented a report to the Security Council, saying "Iran has continued enriching uranium despite a UN nuclear deadline for it to suspend or face possible sanctions."

    Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said Friday that the IAEA report was another indication of the Tehran's broad cooperation with the agency and showed the urgency to return to talks.

    But U.S. President George W. Bush declared Thursday that "there must be consequences" for Iran for refusing to stop enriching uranium, while John Bolton, Washington's ambassador to the UN, chose to be more specific, saying the Security Council must now draw up sanctions against Iran. Enditem