Iran's foreign minister said Tuesday he has been given assurances by China and Russia the United Nations will not impose sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.

Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said the two countries, which have veto power in the U.N. Security Council, assured him they opposed efforts by the United States, Britain, France and Germany to have sanctions declared.

There is a very wrong assumption held by some that the West can do anything it wants through the Security Council, Mottaki told the Tehran newspaper Kayhan.

Meanwhile, representatives from the five permanent members of the Security Council, as well as Germany, met in Paris to discuss the impasse, the BBC said.

Iran restarted its nuclear research this year, including small-scale enrichment of uranium, which can be used to make atomic weapons. The government insists the program is solely for the production of electricity, which Western countries widely don't believe.

On May 9, another meeting will convene in New York of foreign ministers from the top Security Council nations and Germany.