TEHRAN, Iran —  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Friday that the West won't deprive Iran of its nuclear technology, sounding a defiant note after the world's major powers stepped up pressure for Tehran to accept a new package of incentives to halt its uranium enrichment program.

Ahmadinejad did not directly mention the package agreed to on Thursday by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany, which urges Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and come back to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.

But he insisted on Iran's right to pursue nuclear technology.

"The efforts of some Western countries to deprive us will not bear any fruit," he said, according to the state news agency IRNA.

"The reason of their opposition is not their claim of concern over nuclear weapons, but Iran's access to the technology that means opening of the way for all independent countries, especially Islamic countries to the advanced technology," he said after talks with the head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

CountryWatch: Iran