The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Tehran

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday in a live television interview that there were no grounds for imposing new U.N. sanctions on his country.

Ahmadinejad dismissed the third round of sanctions that the U.S. and other countries have been pushing for to force Iran to halt uranium enrichment. "In my opinion, there is no justification," he said. "I think it is very unlikely that they, the West, is ready to pressure the agency, once again." A U.S. intelligence report earlier this month concluded Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in late 2003 and had not resumed it since. Tehran says it never had a weapons program, insisting its nuclear activities aim only to generate electricity.