Iran defends against Western sanctions

We told you that we are not afraid of sanctions against us and we are not intimidated, he said, addressing the West. If Iran wanted to make a bomb, we would be brave enough to tell you, Ahmadinejad said in a speech to thousands of supporters in the southern city of Shiraz.

He said Iran wants talks under just conditions where there is mutual respect, vowing to stand up against U.S. attempts to dominate the Middle East.

The people of Iran and the government of Iran are 10 times stronger than last year, he said. I want the whole world to know it's impossible for Iran to allow the United States to dominate the Middle East.

President Barack Obama has set a rough deadline of the end of this year for Iran to respond to an offer of dialogue and show that it will allay fears of weapons development.

The United States and its allies are warning of new tougher sanctions on Iran if it doesn't respond.

Iran denies it seeks to build a nuclear bomb. This nuclear game thing is an old story, it’s history now, the Iranian President said.

Iran says its nuclear program is intended only to generate electricity and that it has a right to proceed with uranium enrichment, which the United Nations has demanded it suspend.