Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that Iran would not re-suspend uranium conversion activities as the European Union (EU) and the UN nuclear watchdog had asked.

"The government supports the resumption of work at the uranium conversion facilities and we will continue," Ahmadinejad said when addressing a militia rally.

Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran voluntarily froze activities related to uranium enrichment to build confidence, but now Tehran found that the so-called confidence-building proposed by the West was a "lie".

He denied that Iran had secret nuclear programs, criticizing that the West had fabricated such an accusation to deprive Iran of its legal right to build nuclear fuel cycle.

"Our nuclear activities are fully legal, and they will never be used for military purposes," Ahmadinejad stressed.

Accused by the United States of developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of civilian programs, Iran has been making efforts to prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear program by cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and suspending its sensitive nuclear activities in November 2004.

However, Iran resumed uranium conversion activities in August, a preparatory step for enrichment, defying the EU's warnings.

Since then, Iran has been under mounting pressure of the IAEA and the EU to fully suspend its activities related to uranium enrichment before the IAEA's next board of governors' meeting in November.

Iran insists that it cannot make compromises on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, declaring repeatedly that its nuclear research is fully for civil purposes.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2005)