Iran on Sunday launched a new production line of highly accurate, short range cruise missiles capable of evading radar, state TV reported.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton faces an uphill battle as she tries to win support from a skeptical Brazil for new United Nations sanctions against Iran.

The head of Iran's nuclear program said on Monday his country hopes to begin construction within a year on two uranium enrichment facilities, which it plans to build deep inside mountains to protect them from possible attack.

Russia joined the US and France in urging Iran to stop enriching uranium to higher levels in a statement shared on Wednesday with The Associated Press, suggesting the project reinforced suspicions that Tehran is seeking to make nuclear weapons.

Iran's foreign minister hit back on Tuesday against US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's warning that the Islamic republic is becoming a military dictatorship.

Iran began enriching uranium to a higher level on Tuesday over the vociferous objections of the US and its allies, who fear the process could eventually be used to give the Islamic republic nuclear weapons.

Iran's president on Sunday ordered his atomic agency to significantly enrich the country's stockpile of uranium, angering Western nations who want to the Islamic republic to halt its nuclear program.

Iran's effort to revive talks on a deal that would inhibit the country's ability to make a nuclear weapon was met with skepticism by world leaders on Wednesday, a reaction to months of waffling by Tehran.

Iran leaves the world no recourse but to apply penalties aimed at curbing a fast-track nuclear program, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is using meetings in London this week to press ahead with imposing tough new international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Iran warned on Saturday the West has until the end of the month to accept Tehran's counterproposal to a UN-drafted plan on a nuclear exchange, or the country will start producing nuclear fuel on its own.

Iran's president on Tuesday dismissed a year-end deadline set by the Obama administration and the West for Tehran to accept a UN-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, and claimed his government is now "10 times stronger" than a year ago.

Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili has called for the disarmament of all nations with atomic weapons, but said all countries have the right to develop nuclear energy.

Iran is ready to exchange the bulk of its stockpile of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel rods — as proposed by the U.N. — but according to its own mechanisms and timetable, the foreign minister said Saturday.

A nuclear official said on Friday Iran will not answer to the UN nuclear watchdog about its plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment sites beyond the barest minimum required under the international nonproliferation treaty.

Major world powers met in Brussels on Friday to discuss Iran's rejection of an international nuclear fuel deal, after US President Barack Obama warned Tehran must face the consequences.

China and the United States agreed that Iran faced "consequences" if it resisted greater openness on its nuclear programme, US President Barack Obama said Tuesday after talks with China's Hu Jintao.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday the "enemies" of his country's nuclear programme had been defeated ahead of the release of the latest UN report on the atomic drive.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday left for Europe and Asia, largely to consult with US partners on curbing North Korea's and Iran's nuclear ambitions as well as on stabilizing Afghanistan.

Iran has decided to turn down proposals from the major powers for the supply of nuclear fuel, a leading member of parliament said on Saturday, in a serious setback for UN-brokered efforts to allay Western concerns about its ambitions.

Iran said on Monday it wants a review of the UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal, insisting it prefers to purchase the supplies directly from any world producer.

Senior Iranian lawmakers rejected on Saturday a UN-backed plan to ship much of the country's uranium abroad for further enrichment, raising further doubts about the likelihood Tehran will finally approve the deal.

Iran will accept the broad framework of a UN-brokered uranium deal but wants "very important changes" in the plan, state-owned Arabic language Al-Alam TV channel reported on Tuesday.

Iran said on Monday it could deliver abroad some of its low-enriched uranium to be upgraded or buy the fuel directly, as a UN team was due to carry further checks on a newly-revealed atomic plant.

UN inspectors got their first look on Sunday inside a once-secret uranium enrichment facility that has raised Western suspicions about the extent of Iran's nuclear program.