Iran shrugs off US sanctions threats

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Sunday defiantly dismissed US threats of further United Nations sanctions over its nuclear programme, vowing to press ahead with its controversial atomic drive and with enriching uranium.

"Sanctions cannot dissuade us and will not have any effect," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters.

His comments came after talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Thursday ended with positive words from both sides but no sign of any breakthrough.

Hosseini emphasized that Iran was not offering any concession on the EU's key demand that Tehran suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear fuel but also the explosive core of an atomic bomb.