Iran on Saturday branded as illegal a new Security Council resolution likely to be adopted imposing a third set of United Nations sanctions against Tehran because of its nuclear defiance.
"Reviewing Iran's case in the UN Security Council is illegal. It is like beating the air," government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

On Friday the Security Council put the finishing touches to a draft resolution imposing further sanctions over Tehran's refusal to heed UN demands to halt uranium enrichment.

The world body is expected to vote on the resolution on Monday.

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The West fears that the knowhow gained from uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities could give Iran the capability to make nuclear weapons, a charge vehemently denied by Tehran.

Iran insists its nuclear case is closed, referring to last month's report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which said it had made "quite good progress" in its four-year probe into Iran's nuclear programme.

But the IAEA said it could still not confirm if the Iranian atomic drive was peaceful, prompting the United States and its European allies to push for new sanctions.

As a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran says it has a right to enrich uranium to make nuclear fuel to meet the growing energy needs of its population.

The country's first Russian-built atomic power plant is yet to go on line.

"Enmity exits but our nation is not afraid of this and will not trade its independence at any price," Elham said, reaffirming Iran's defiance.

He also hit out at Iran's archfoe Israel, calling for UN action against a "regime which is contaminated by atomic weapons and warheads and admits to it too."

Israel, which has the Middle East's only -- if undeclared -- nuclear arsenal, has pushed for stepped-up international pressure on Iran, whose president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for its annihilation.

"The Security Council had better take up the crucial issue of the Zionist regime which is the only threat to world peace and security," Elham said.

The UN vote was delayed until Monday so sponsors "can get as broad support as possible," diplomats said as Britain, France and Germany engaged in last-minute talks to try to win over four non-permanent members of the security council.

Vietnam, South Africa, Indonesia and Libya see fresh sanctions as counter-productive and worry they might prompt Iran to stop cooperating with the IAEA.

They note that the IAEA report spoke of progress in Iran's efforts to come clean on past nuclear activities.

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