Tehran, March 21 (DPA) Only a few days ahead of a key vote by the United Nations on sanctions against Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted again Wednesday that there would be no concessions in Iran's nuclear dispute.

"The Iranian nation decisively stands behind its (nuclear) rights and (the West) is eventually forced to acknowledge Iran's legitimate rights," Ahmadinejad said in a speech on the occasion of the new Persian year (1386), carried on all five channels of state television.

In his, Ahmadinejad accused the West of trying to deprive Iran of technological progress and national development but insisted that all these efforts have so far failed and would continue to fail in the future.

Referring to sanctions or probable military strikes against Iran's nuclear sites, Ahmadinejad said there would be no way the West could harm Iran and termed any such threats as "psychological war."

A New Year speech delivered by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not directly refer to the nuclear issue but called on the Iranian nation to stay united and not allow "enemies" to sow discord between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told state news agency IRNA during his visit Tuesday in South Africa that Iran would under no condition give up its right to access nuclear energy, but would welcome talks to find a solution for the nuclear dispute.

The UN Security Council plans to meet Wednesday for a formal discussion of sanctions that were agreed to last week by the five veto-wielding permanent members - the US, Russia, China, France and Britain - plus Germany.

Ahmadinejad and more than 30 other Iranian officials plan to attend the voting session in New York - scheduled for later this week but not yet fixed - where the president reportedly wants to defend Iran's nuclear rights in line with the Non-Proliferation Treaty and to reassure the world of the peaceful nature of Iranian atomic projects.