A defiant Iran rejected new UN sanctions imposed over its controversial uranium enrichment programme, saying it will press on with the sensitive atomic work, even as world powers stressed on Thursday the door remains open for dialogue.
A top Iranian lawmaker said that new sanctions could force parliament to revise ties with the UN atomic watchdog.
A US-drafted sanctions resolution was adopted by 12 votes to two in the UN Security Council on Wednesday, with Lebanon abstaining and Brazil and Turkey voting against.
Although swiftly hailed by the United States, Britain and France who co-sponsored the resolution, the sanctions drew an immediate, scornful reaction from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"These resolutions are not worth a dime for the Iranian nation," said Ahmadinejad, who had earlier threatened to suspend negotiations with six major powers if the sanctions were imposed.
Speaking in the Tajik capital Dushanbe minutes after the UN vote, he said he had told world powers "that the resolutions you issue are like a used hanky which should be thrown in the dust bin."
Iran's envoy to UN atomic watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh insisted that Tehran would "not halt its uranium enrichment programme," the most contentious part of its nuclear policy.
Iranian newspapers, both hardline and reformist, unanimously denounced the sanctions.
The hardline Kayhan daily ran a front-page lead headline: "Wait for Iran's decisive response to illegal sanctions."
The reformist daily Aftab e-Yazd said: "Now that the West, along with Russia and China, has adopted the path of confrontation, Iran's response will be strong."
US President Barack Obama said the "toughest-ever" sanctions "sent an unmistakable message about the international community's commitment to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons."
He added, however: "These sanctions do not close the door on diplomacy. Iran continues to have the opportunity to take a different and better path."
But a visible upset Iran said the sanctions could lead to revision of Tehran's ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"On Sunday Iranian parliament will discuss a bill to revise ties with the IAEA," top lawmaker Alaeddin Borujerdi told the Fars news agency.
The foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States meanwhile stressed that their dual-track approach - pressure through sanctions alongside negotiations - remained in effect.
"The aim of our efforts is to achieve a comprehensive and long-term settlement which would restore international confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme, while respecting Iran's legitimate rights to the peaceful use of atomic energy," they said in a statement.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said such a dual-track approach was "wrong" and it was better to "refrain from such discriminatory actions."
In its fourth package of sanctions against Iran, the Security Council imposed broader military and financial restrictions over the opposition of Brazil and Turkey which had argued that a nuclear fuel swap deal they inked with Iran last month created the opportunity for further diplomacy.
The sanctions resolution expands an arms embargo and Russia said it would force it to freeze a contract to deliver S-300 air defence missiles, whose delayed delivery had already been a source of friction between Tehran and Moscow.
Israel and the United States, which have both never ruled out a resort to military action to prevent Iran developing a nuclear weapons capability, had both strongly opposed the deal for fear that the missiles would make strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities much more difficult.
The sanctions also bar Iran from sensitive activities such as uranium mining and authorise states to conduct high-sea inspections of vessels believed to be ferrying banned items for Iran.
The resolution also adds 40 entities to a list of people and groups subject to travel restrictions and financial sanctions.
Diplomats said the sanctions - the fourth to be adopted by the United Nations - were a blow to Iran, which could soon be strengthened by additional measures from individual powers.
"More unilateral sanctions from the US and the EU are expected soon which would significantly damage the economy," one diplomat told AFP.
In a rare rebuke, Tehran hit out at Beijing - which could have vetoed the resolution - for backing the punitive measures.
"China is gradually losing its respectable position in the Islamic world and by the time it wakes up, it will be too late," Iran's atomic energy chief, Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, said on Wednesday.
On Thursday, China attempted to cool tempers over its backing for the resolution, saying it "highly values relations with Iran and feels they are conducive to regional peace, stability and development." - Sapa-AFP