Ahmadinejad shrugs off fresh sanctions

Tehran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the UN Security Council on Wednesday of being a political ''instrument'' in the hands of big powers, after it passed a new round of sanctions against Tehran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.

Iran has vowed to continue enrichment despite the new sanctions, and said its firms had no problems in securing trade finance and attracting investment.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad said Iran will only talk to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency over its nuclear programme, and not the Security Council.

''From now on, Iran's nuclear issue is only within the agency within the framework of mutual obligations and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. We won't negotiate with anyone outside the agency,'' Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.