Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad on Tuesday promised a “celebration of Iran’s full nuclearisation” before the end of the Iranian year next March and said the US and its allies had “finally agreed to live with...an Iran possessing the nuclear fuel cycle”.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad did not explain his claims, which came at a news conference. But he was at pains to defend his record at home and abroad in the run-up to next month’s municipal council elections when his government faces its first nationwide popularity test.