West seeks pretexts to use against Iran: Ahmadinejad

MADRID (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in remarks published on Sunday that some Western countries were using Iran's nuclear activity as a pretext to pressure his country.

Ahmadinejad also told the Spanish El Pais newspaper some in the West was not happy with the assurances that Tehran had given to the international nuclear watchdog showing that Iran's nuclear program was intended for peaceful purposes only.

"They don't care about the nuclear program, they're just looking for pretexts against Iran," he said in the interview.

"Of course, we don't care what they think now. We've learned to live without them. That's the advantage of this experience."

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a February report that Iran had clarified issues raised as part of a work plan agreed in August, but did not clarify questions raised over the use of explosives and missiles work relevant to making nuclear bombs.

Iran denies Western allegations that it is amassing the capability to produce nuclear weapons and says its ambitions are limited to peacefully generating electricity.

"Not only do we think the era of atomic weapons is over, we have no interest in building them because we think they go against the rights and the dignity of human beings," Ahmadinejad said.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote on Monday on a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

The resolution will tighten existing sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on Iran because of its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which creates fuel for nuclear power stations but also for atomic weapons.

Ahmadinejad said Iran would reject any new U.N. resolution, as it had done with the previous two adopted in December 2006 and in March 2007.

"Every new resolution is a shot to the body of the United Nations," he said. "It lessens their credibility."

Separately, Ahmadinejad said he would have no problem meeting with Barack Obama if the U.S. presidential candidate was elected, but he didn't believe it was possible for Obama to win.

Obama has said he would engage in direct talks with Iran if he was elected.

"I think it's impossible for Obama to achieve the presidency because of the hidden forces that exist in the United States," the Iranian president said. "It makes no difference to us who wins (the U.S. election)."

(Reporting by Sonya Dowsett; editing by Sami Aboudi)