Ahmadinejad says Iran won't give in to bullying

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday accused a six-nation group of world powers of bullying Tehran over its nuclear programme and said their efforts would end in disgrace.

"The bullying powers have used their capabilities to break the nation's will to obtain nuclear technology ... in our view Iran's nuclear case is closed," Ahmadinejad told clerics in the holy Shi'ite city of Qom.

"Recently, they have started a new game ... the result of this game will be disgrace for them," the president said, five days after European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana handed over a package of incentives aimed at persuading Iran to halt uranium enrichment.

Solana reaffirmed in Tehran the six powers wanted Iran to suspend enrichment during talks on the offer -- a precondition the Islamic Republic has so far rejected.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki insisted on Thursday Iran was ready to negotiate over the offer and that the six should also look at Iran's own package.

The U.N. Security Council has hit Iran with three rounds of sanctions since 2006 for refusing to halt its enrichment work, as demanded by the council.

Western powers have warned Iran it would face more sanctions if it spurns the offer.

The United States, which says Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb, has said it wants a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear standoff but has not ruled out military action.

Ahmadinejad said Iran will "cut off hand" of any attacker.