Tehran - Any pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme would be futile, the official ISNA news agency quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying on Thursday.

"No power in the world could threaten the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with clerics during a visit to the south-western province of Khuzestan.

Western nations, led by the United States, accuse the Islamic republic of pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons programme, a charge Iran denies.

There have been reports that the US, Russia, China, France and Britain, the five nations with veto powers at the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany, who are the major players involved in nuclear talks with Iran, were to assure Arab countries that they would maintain pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

"Whoever in the world plans to talk on Iran's nuclear programme should know that Iran will stick to its principles and not retreat even a bit," Ahmadinejad said.

"Iran's enemies have so far failed (with their pressures on Iran) and also in the future all they will gain is further failure," the president said.

Iran insists its nuclear programmes are solely for peaceful purposes and says has a legitimate right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue a civilian nuclear scheme, including the controversial uranium enrichment process.

Enriched uranium is used to make nuclear fuel, but can also be employed, if enriched to a higher degree, to produce nuclear weapons.

The West and some Arab countries such as Egypt fear that Iran might use the technology for a secret military programme and pose a threat to the Middle East and Persian Gulf region. (dpa)