Tehran, Dec 24 (Xinhua) Iran says it will begin installing 3,000 centrifuges at a uranium enrichment plant Sunday in response to a UN Security Council resolution that demands Tehran to end all uranium enrichment-related work, the Kayhan newspaper said.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told the newspaper that Iran would start installing the centrifuges at its Natanz uranium enrichment plant.

"As of today, we will start the activities at the site of the centrifuge machines in Natanz," Larijani was quoted as saying.

"This is our immediate response to the UN Security Council resolution," he added, just hours after the UN Security Council passed the resolution.

Tehran condemned the resolution as illegal, insisting its nuclear programme is peaceful.

Shortly after the UN Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to impose sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear activities, the Iranian foreign ministry began to lash out at the resolution as an "illegal measure".

Iran considers it as "an illegal measure taken outside the framework of its duty and against the UN Charter", the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The US accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of a peaceful programme, a charged repeatedly denied by Iran.