The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Tehran

Iran will not give up "a single iota of its nuclear rights," the country's president said Saturday, rebuffing an informal deadline to stop expanding uranium enrichment or face more sanctions.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the remarks during discussions with Syrian President Beshar Assad, who arrived in Tehran Saturday for a two-day visit, the Iranian president's official Web site said. Assad is in Tehran to discuss Iran's controversial uranium enrichment following a request from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Tehran was given an informal two-week deadline, set July 19 by the U.N. Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany, to stop expanding uranium enrichment - at least temporarily - in exchange for their commitment to stop seeking new U.N. sanctions.

Ahmadinejad's stance signaled both a failure of Assad's mission and a rejection of the deadline, although his comments indicated he was not ruling out international talks on Iran's nuclear program.

While stating that the Iranian nation "will not give up a single iota of its nuclear rights," he also said any participation in international talks on the nuclear issue would be aimed at reinforcing those rights.

Assad, who has been seeking a more prominent Mideast role for Syria, promised Sarkozy during a visit to France in July to try to persuade Iran to offer proof to the West that it isn't developing nuclear weapons.

Syria is Iran's closest Arab ally - the two countries have had close relations since 1980, when Syria sided with Persian Iran against Iraq in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Iran's claims that it only wants nuclear technology for the production of energy have failed to quell Western suspicions that it is seeking a pathway to an atomic bomb.

Meanwhile in Brussels, a European Union official said Saturday that the office of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana had not yet received an answer from Iran, but expected a reply "in the coming days" after the weekend deadline.