Before U.N. vote, Iran says atomic work won't stop

TEHRAN (Reuters) - World powers will not prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions, the Iranian president said on Friday, a day before a possible vote on a third round of U.N. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Western envoys at the U.N. Security Council said they expected a vote on Saturday on a new resolution because Iran had refused to halt work the West believes is aimed at making nuclear bombs. Iran has said any such action would be illegal.

"The Iranian nation will have the final victory in the nuclear arena. No power will be able to obstruct the movement of the Iranian nation," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a military gathering in Tehran, Iran's IRNA news agency reported.

The president previously said no amount of U.N. sanctions would deter Iran from what he insists is a peaceful programme designed at mastering technology to make electricity so the Islamic Republic can export more of its oil and gas reserves.

"Let the world know that the Iranian nation will build up Iran despite all the difficulties," he said. "The Iranian nation has overcome the superpowers and is standing on the victor's podium. All powers are beneath the Iranian nation's feet."

The five permanent council members -- the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia -- and Germany, which is not on the Security Council, agreed in Berlin on Jan. 22 on a draft text outlining a third round of sanctions against Tehran.

Washington had hoped for a swift vote on the text but talks have dragged on for over a month. U.S. and British envoys said it looked as if a vote would go ahead on Saturday.

Diplomats also said South Africa, which has said it wanted to delay the sanctions vote, had requested a meeting with the European co-sponsors on Friday to discuss the resolution.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin reiterated that Moscow would support the resolution, which it has helped draft, albeit reluctantly, during meetings of the six powers.

Four of the 15-members of the Security Council have voiced scepticism about the resolution, some saying they might vote abstain or vote against it. That still leaves 11, including the five permanent members, supporting it.

The draft resolution calls for more travel and financial restrictions on named Iranian individuals and companies and makes some restrictions mandatory. Two earlier sanctions rounds were approved unanimously in December 2006 and March 2007.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has written a letter to the council arguing that sanctions against Iran lacked any legal basis and only undermined the council's credibility.