Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again vowed that his country will continue with its controversial nuclear program.

Mr. Ahmadinejad told a rally in the western city of Sanandaj Wednesday that Iranians would fight until the end to defend the country's nuclear right.

In a confidential report Tuesday, the UN nuclear agency said UN inspectors had found traces of plutonium, a possible weapons material, at a nuclear waste site in Iran.

The report of the International Atomic Energy Agency also said Iran is pressing ahead with uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to generate electricity or, at higher levels, make atomic bombs.

Iranian officials are quoted in state media saying the I.A.E.A. report contains nothing new.

The UN Security Council is considering a draft resolution for sanctions against Iran for refusing to abide by an August 31st deadline to suspend enrichment activities. Russia and China have been reluctant to punish Iran.