Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday his country's nuclear course will not change despite mounting Western pressure, insisting that Iran is not seeking an atomic weapon.

"With God's help, and without paying attention to propaganda, Iran's nuclear course should continue firmly and seriously," he said on state television, according to Reuters.

Khamenei's reiteration of Iran's long-held stance came after a five-strong delegation from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) left Tehran empty-handed following two days of talks focused on suspected military aspects of Iran's nuclear program.

Khamenei also rejected claims his country is seeking nuclear weapons.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov Wednesday again warned against the use of force to solve the crisis, saying an attack would have catastrophic consequences.

Also Wednesday, Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Moscow could not rule out the US would use the Manas airbase in Kyrgyzstan for an eventual strike on Iran.

"The Manas airbase is used by the US for logistical support for military operations in Afghanistan at the moment. If Washington wants to use the base to launch a strike on Iran, it has to change the lease agreement signed with Bishkek before deploying offensive weapons," Yin Gang, a senior Middle East expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

"But, once a military conflict erupts between Tehran and Washington, the US military bases in Central Asia and the oil fields in the Caspian Sea the US companies invested in will naturally be targeted by Iran for retaliation," Yin noted.

"Russia has long vied with the US for influence in the region, so the increase of the risk of confrontation over the Iranian nuclear crisis definitely caused serious concerns in Moscow, which already conducted several military drills with Central Asian nations last year in case of an Iran-US war in region" he added.

Global Times - Agencies