Nuke program 'will continue'

News 24:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Tehran will continue its uranium enrichment programme, despite international calls to halt the sensitive project, reported state television on Saturday.

"The Iranian government and the people have decided, and without any doubt with dignity and glory we will pass this phase," said Ahmadinejad, after explaining Iran's fuel cycle programme to Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo in Gambia. READ MORE

Ahmadinejad is in Gambia to address the African Union summit.

Tehran is under mounting pressure to respond to an international offer that would defuse the nuclear standoff.

World powers gave Iran one more week on Thursday, to provide a "clear and substantive response" to an international proposal on suspending uranium enrichment.

Tehran has rejected the deadline.