"We are still committed to the NPT. We have always been committed to this international agreement, but we cannot accept it being used for political ends," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had warned Saturday that the Islamic republic could quit the NPT -- the cornerstone of the global battle against the spread of nuclear weapons -- if forced by the West to limit its disputed nuclear programme.

Iran argues it only wants to generate nuclear energy.

"We will decide depending on the position they have towards the Islamic republic," Asefi said when asked if Iran would abandon the NPT if fully referred to the UN Security Council on March 6.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's board will next discuss Iran's disputed nuclear programme on that date.

The IAEA had on February 4 voted to report Iran to the Security Council, but has left a one month window for diplomacy before New York will actually take up the matter.

The NPT prohibits the development of the bomb and subjects its signatories to IAEA inspections.

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