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The Security Council has been at odds over how to deal with Iran's defiance of the Aug. 31 U.N. deadline to halt uranium enrichment. Western powers accuse Iran of seeking nuclear bombs, while Tehran insists it only wants nuclear energy.

The Europeans and Americans want tough sanctions; Russia and China have pushed for dialogue, despite the failure of an EU effort to bring the Iranians to the negotiating table.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Monday the six nations were nearing an agreement.

Iran says it is entitled as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has criticized Iran for concealing significant aspects of its nuclear work and says it has failed to answer all questions about its program.

Ahmadinejad, who was visiting Mazandaran province on the Caspian Sea, reiterated there would be no slowing of Iran's nuclear program.

"Thanks to the grace of God and (the Iranian people's) resistance, we are on the final stage of the path to the nuclear peak. Not more than one step is left to be taken. By the end of the year, we will organize a celebration across the country to mark the stabilization of our nuclear rights," he said, referring to the Iranian calendar year that ends March 20.

By "stabilization," Ahmadinejad appeared to mean that Iran has managed to enrich uranium on an industrial scale, a requirement for making sufficient fuel to power Iran's Russian-built reactor at Bushehr, which is due to go on line next year.

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