New York, Sep 20 (DPA) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced the US and Britain as "hegemonic powers" undermining the UN Security Council's credibility and effectiveness.

The much-anticipated address by the Iranian leader to the UN General Assembly late Tuesday offered no solutions to the dispute over his country's nuclear activities.

Instead, Ahmadinejad blasted the US for waging the war in Iraq and Israel for occupying Palestinian territories.

He said that no organisation in the UN can resist the will of the US and Britain, two of the five Security Council permanent members, along with Russia, France and China.

"Regrettably, the persistence of some hegemonic powers in imposing their exclusionist policies on international decision-making mechanisms, including the Security Council, has resulted in a growing mistrust in global public opinion, undermining the credibility and effectiveness of this most universal system of collective security," he said.

As long as the Security Council is unable to act on behalf of the international community, it "will never be legitimate nor effective," Ahmadinejad said.

His country's nuclear activities are "transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eyes of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors". He charged that the governments objecting to Iran's nuclear programme are themselves benefiting from nuclear energy.

"Some of them have abused nuclear technology for non-peaceful ends including the production of nuclear bombs, and some even have a bleak record of using them against humanity," he said.

Ahmadinejad addressed the 191-nation assembly hours after US President George Bush spoke to the same body, demanding that Tehran cooperate with the UN and the IAEA in suspending its uranium-enrichment programme, the source of dispute with the IAEA and some Western nations.

When Ahmadinejad spoke to the General Assembly, most of the heads of state and government had left to attend a reception organised by the White House at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where Bush was staying while in New York.