Ahmadinejad told academics in a speech that elements inside Iran were pressing for compromise in the nuclear standoff with the West over fears the United States could launch a military strike.

"In some discussions I told them 'I am an engineer and I am examining the issue. They do not dare wage war against us and I base this on a double proof'," he said in the speech on Sunday, reported by the reformist Etemad Melli and Kargozaran newspapers.

"I tell them: 'I am an engineer and I am a master in calculation and tabulation.

"I draw up tables. For hours, I write out different hypotheses. I reject, I reason. I reason with planning and I make a conclusion. They cannot make problems for Iran.'"

Ahmadinejad has long expressed pride in his academic prowess. He holds a PhD on transport engineering and planning from Tehran's Science and Technology University and is the author several of scientific papers.

The deeply religious president said his second reason was: "I believe in what God says."

"God says that those who walk in the path of righteousness will be victorious. What reason can you have for believing God will not keep this promise."

Washington has never ruled out taking military action against Tehran, and its tone has sharpened again over the past week with President George W. Bush warning that Iran's nuclear programme could lead to a "nuclear holocaust."

Ahmadinejad said that "God willing" one day he would write his memoirs to put the record straight.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has already warned that Iran risks being bombed if the nuclear crisis is not resolved. Ahmadinejad last week brushed off the comments which he said were due to his French counterpart's inexperience.

related report
Iran will outsmart West on nuclear issue: Khamenei
Tehran (AFP) Sept 3 - Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged on Monday that Iran would never yield to Western pressure over its nuclear programme, and it would outsmart "drunken and arrogant" Western opponents in the standoff.

The renewed expression of defiance from Iran's undisputed number one came after US President George W. Bush said last week that allowing Tehran's nuclear drive to continue unabated could spark a "nuclear holocaust."

"The Iranian nation has withstood and it will withstand intimidation. It will never bow to any intimidation in the nuclear issue and in other matters," state broadcasting quoted Khamenei as telling a group of elite students.

"Iran will defeat these drunken and arrogant powers using its artful and wise ways," he added.

Washington accuses Tehran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons -- an allegation vehemently denied by the Islamic republic -- and has never ruled out taking military action against it.

"Iran's active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust," Bush said on August 28.

Khamenei slammed Bush's latest verbal attack, calling it "hateful, arrogant and violent."

The sharpening rhetoric between the two arch-foes comes amid renewed cooperation between Iran and the UN atomic energy agency to answer outstanding questions on the nature of Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

While the Vienna-based watchdog has described the agreement with Tehran as a significant step forward, Washington has expressed serious reservations that it does not go far enough.

In any case, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Mohamed ElBaradei was quoted as telling Der Spiegel on Saturday that the agreement could be Iran's "last chance" to resolve the crisis.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, reaffirmed his view that the IAEA deal meant that Iran's nuclear case was "closed" and there was no danger of it facing military action.

"With the help of God and the resistance of the supreme leader and the nation of Iran, we think that the nuclear case is closed," Ahmadinejad told a meeting of Non-Aligned Movement countries in Tehran on Monday.

In a speech the day earlier he sought to justify his confidence that the United States would not attack Iran, saying the proof comes from his mathematical skills as an engineer and his faith in God.

He said he told people who believed otherwise: "I am an engineer and I am a master in calculation and tabulation.

"I draw up tables. For hours, I write out different hypotheses. I reject, I reason. I reason with planning and I make a conclusion. They cannot make problems for Iran."

Ahmadinejad has long expressed pride in his academic prowess. He has a PhD in transport engineering and planning from Tehran's Science and Technology University and is the author of several scientific papers.

The deeply religious president said his second reason was: "I believe in what God says.

"God says that those who walk in the path of righteousness will be victorious. What reason can you have for believing God will not keep this promise?"

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has already warned that Iran risks being bombed if the nuclear crisis is not resolved. But Ahmadinejad brushed off the comments which he said were due to his French counterpart's inexperience.

related report
Iran denies shelling Kurdish northern Iraq
Tehran (AFP) Sept 3 - Iran on Monday denied claims by officials in nothern Iraq that it was shelling separatist guerrilla bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Iran vehemently denies shelling northern Iraq. Tehran has previously and officially replied to these allegations," Vice Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi was quoted as saying.

Iraqi Kurdish officials have claimed that hundreds of Iraqi Kurds have fled remote mountain villages near the country's eastern frontier as Iranian gunners target separatist guerrilla bases.

Villagers in the area have said that the region shelters fighters from the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a rebel group mainly active in neighbouring Turkey.

Iran's West Azarbaijan province, which borders northern Iraq, is the scene of regular deadly clashes between Iranian security forces and Pejak, a militant Kurdish separatist group linked to Turkey's outlawed PKK.

"We are facing problems with armed groups who are acting against the interest of the Iranian, Turkish and Iraqi nations," Mostafavi said.

He added that "to solve these problems Tehran and Baghdad have a joint border committee and it is active."

Iran is bound by treaty with Turkey to fight the PKK. In return, Turkey has pledged to fight Iran's main armed opposition group, the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen.

Turkey has praised Iran's efforts to crack down on Kurdish rebels linked to the PKK, who have been waging a deadly armed struggle for self-rule in the southeast of Turkey since 1984.