Defiant Iran unveils heavy-water plant By HERB KEINON AND AP KHONDAB, Iran

Iran on Saturday inaugurated a plant that could be used to produce plutonium, expanding its nuclear program only days before a UN deadline threatening sanctions unless Teheran halts efforts to build nuclear weapons.

The official opening of the heavy-water plant at Khondab marked a new show of defiance. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shrugged off the possibility of sanctions, insisting his country would not slow its nuclear ambitions.

"We tell the Western countries not to cause trouble for themselves, because Iranian people are determined to make progress and acquire technology," he said after inaugurating the site, underlining that Iran's nuclear program was peaceful.

"There is no discussion of nuclear weapons," he said. "We are not a threat to anybody, even the Zionist regime, which is a definite enemy to the people of the region.