[JURIST] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [official website; BBC profile] said Friday that Iran has a legal right to pursue its nuclear program and condemned a draft UN Security Council resolution currently being circulated [JURIST report], saying it does not have a legal basis. In comments during a summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization [official website] in Azerbaijan, Ahmadinejad also said that Iran was willing to act according to International Atomic Energy Agency [official website] regulations, but insisted that "the rights of both sides should be respected." Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev [official website], meanwhile, said Friday that "if international law and regulations of international organizations provides the opportunity for a country to obtain nuclear energy, then there should not be any contradiction [in] this respect."

Ahmadinejad announced last month that the country's scientists had successfully enriched uranium to make nuclear fuel [BBC report; JURIST report], ignoring a non-mandatory Security Council demand [text] that it immediately suspend its nuclear enrichment program [JURIST report]. The draft Security Council resolution being discussed would come under Chapter 7 [text] of the UN Charter [text], which can lead to sanctions or even the use of military force. RFE/RL has more. IRNA has local coverage.