TEHRAN, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that any sanctions against Iran over its nuclear issue will not work and the Islamic Republic can not be isolated.

    "We have a great economy inside Iran ... and sanctions are not such a big deal for Iran," Ahmadinejad said in a live TV interview late Tuesday.

    "They (the Western countries) need us more than we need them," Ahmadinejad said, adding "It is only a psychological warfare and it is impossible to isolate Iran."

    The Iranian president also lashed out at the recent resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors on the Iran nuclear issue, saying that the resolution "has no legal basis."

    The IAEA board of governors passed a resolution during a meeting on Friday in Vienna, calling for the "full cooperation" of Iran to clarify all outstanding issues involving its nuclear program and requiring Iran to stop construction on the newly-disclosed Fordo uranium enrichment facility near the central Iranian city of Qom.

    On Sunday, the Iranian government ordered the country's Atomic Energy Organization to build 10 new uranium enrichment sites in defiance of the latest IAEA resolution.

    Ahmadinejad reiterated in his televised interview on Tuesday that the plan to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants in the country was not a "bluff" and Iran will fully pursue its announced projects.

    He also noted that Iran did not have to inform the UN nuclear watchdog about its plans to build the new nuclear sites "unless the technology is imported."

    The IAEA move was its first adoption of a resolution against Iran after the one adopted in February 2006. The 35-member IAEA board of governors passed the resolution with 25 yes votes, three votes by Cuba, Venezuela and Malaysia against, six abstentions and one absence.

    Russia was singled out by Ahmadinejad for criticism on Tuesday as Moscow was one of the 25 members of the IAEA board of governors who voted for the recent resolution on the Iran nuclear issue.

    "Russia made a mistake (in voting for the resolution) as it does not have an accurate analysis of the current situation in the world," Ahmadinejad said.