Monday, August 28 2006 10:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Tehran: Iran yesterday (Aug 27, 2006) insisted it remained determined to produce its own nuclear fuel, just four days before a UN Security Council deadline to freeze the sensitive work or face the risk of sanctions.

And in a new show of its military might, Iran test-fired a long range radar-evading sea-to-air missile during war games it says aim to demonstrate its readiness for any threat.

But the Islamic regime added that it remained keen to hold talks on Western concerns about its nuclear programme and revealed that UN chief Kofi Annan was due in Tehran next Saturday, two days after the deadline.

"Production of nuclear fuel is one of Iran's strategic objectives," lead negotiator Ali Larijani told state radio.

"Any action to limit or deprive Iran could not force Iran to give up this goal," he said.

The UN Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities by the end of the month amid US-led concerns that its nuclear programme is cover for an attempt to produce an atomic bomb.

A package of incentives backed by the six major powers in return for Iran addressing Western concerns is dependent on the regime first agreeing to suspend enrichment.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Reza Bagheri insisted on a visit to key regional ally Syria that a formal moratorium on enrichment was unacceptable.

"While cooperating with international institutions, we consider the suspension of enrichment as our red line," Bagheri was quoted as saying in Damascus by Iran's official news agency IRNA.