Iran asks to address Security Council

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked to address the U.N. Security Council to defend Tehran's nuclear programmes, the president of the 15-member body said on Thursday.

South African U.N. Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, council president for March, said he had received a letter from his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, requesting the council visit by Ahmadinejad.

A draft resolution to impose new U.N. sanctions on Iran for its nuclear programme was sent to the council on Thursday. It has already been agreed by the council's five members with veto power -- the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia.

"The letter was very specific; he wants to come at a time when the resolution is being adopted," Kumalo told reporters.

"I will consult with the members tomorrow morning to see how we proceed," Kumalo said. "The Security Council will have to decide whether they accommodate this or not. The challenge right now is that we don't know when this could be."

He said the council had agreed to hold further discussions on the draft Iran resolution next Wednesday, but no date has yet been set for a vote, expected sometime next week.

Iran is embroiled in a dispute over its nuclear programme, which the West says conceals a plan to produce nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.

"The Iranians have officially requested visas for President Ahmadinejad and his delegation," said Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

It is unlikely that the United States would refuse such a request as Ahmadinejad has been granted visas in the past, such as in September when he attended the U.N. General Assembly in New York, diplomats said.