A defiant Iranian government led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed yesterday to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants and also to study a plan to process the material to 20 per cent purity, state media reported.

The hardline stance - seen as hitting out at world powers led by Washington - came after the conservative-dominated Parliament urged the government to reduce ties with the UN atomic watchdog which on Friday condemned Iran for building its second uranium enrichment plant.

State TV reported that Mr Ahmadinejad's Cabinet overwhelmingly ordered Iran's atomic body to begin building at five new sites earmarked for uranium enrichment plants and to locate sites for another five over the next two months. The report said the Islamic republic wants to have nuclear power capacity of 20,000 megawatts, with fuel to be supplied by the building of another 10 uranium enrichment plants the size of the one in the central city of Natanz.

Iran is already under three sets of UN sanctions for defiantly enriching uranium - the most controversial aspect of its nuclear programme - at the Natanz facility.

Tehran further infuriated world powers in September when it disclosed it is building a second enrichment plant near the Shiite holy city of Qom.

On Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemned Iran for building the Qom plant and asked for its construction to stop. Angry Iranian MPs demanded that Mr Ahmadinejad's government reduce ties with the IAEA following the resolution.

They urged the government to continue its nuclear programme "without any halt."

The IAEA resolution saw China and Russia, which have close links with Tehran, join Britain, France, Germany and the US in condemning Iran over the Qom plant, being built inside a mountain.