Tehran - The sanctions by the United Nations Security Council against Iran over its controversial nuclear programmes have boosted the country's self-confidence, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday.

"The sanctions by our enemies are illegal and out of animosity against Iran and their approach eventually led to distrust towards colonial and imperialistic powers," Ahmadinejad said at a joint press briefing in Tehran with visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The UN Security Council has so far issued three sanctions resolutions against the Islamic state, which including financial sanctions and travel bans, after Iran refused to suspend its uranium enrichment programme.

"The Iranian nation has turned the sanctions into an opportunity for progress and sanctions ... boosted our self-confidence," the Iranian president said.

Ahmadinejad has several times stressed that the UN sanctions did not intimidate Iran and the country would not retreat from its nuclear activities, including the controversial enrichment process.

Enriched uranium is a basis for nuclear fuel, but can also be used, if enriched to a higher degree, to produce nuclear weapons.

Iran insists its nuclear programmes are solely for peaceful purposes and says the country is pursuing a civilian nuclear programme, including enrichment, as its legitimate right in line with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The West, however, suspects Iran might use the same technology for a secret military programme and become a threat to the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region. (dpa)