Iran has no brake on its nuclear programme and is prepared for any eventuality - "even for war" - one of its deputy foreign ministers warned yesterday.

The day before UN members discuss sanctions against Tehran, the ISNA news agency reported Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as saying: "Iran has obtained the technology to produce nuclear fuel and Iran's move is like a train ... which has no brake and no reverse gear."

ISNA quoted Manouchehr Mohammadi, one of the Foreign Minister's deputies, as saying: "We have prepared ourselves for any situation, even for war."

His warning came as the US repeated demands for Iran to halt uranium enrichment, a process Washington believes Tehran is seeking to master to allow it to build nuclear bombs.

Iran, which insists it only wants to make fuel to generate electricity, ignored last week's UN deadline to stop the work.

Responding to Mr Ahmadinejad's comments, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said: "They (Iran) don't need a reverse gear. They need a stop button." She said her offer to meet Iran's Foreign Minister or other Iranian representatives still stood if Iran suspended enrichment.

The US insists it wants a diplomatic solution to the row but has not ruled out military action. US Vice-President Dick Cheney said on Saturday Iran's atomic ambitions must be curbed and said "all options" were on the table.

Iranian military commanders have said recent war games, the latest involving testing several missiles, show Iran's readiness to counter any attack.