Vice president Taha Hussein Ramadan said in a speech opening a trade fair here that ``there will be no cooperation (with the inspectors) before Iraq's demands are met'' and that the country would maintain this stance ``until the sanctions are lifted.''

His comments came the morning after the UN Security Council issued a statement condemning Iraq's decision yesterday to cut off all dealings with arms inspectors as ``a flagrant violation'' of UN resolutions.

``Iraq rejects the latest UN Security Council statement and will not back down,'' Ramadan told mediapersons at the trade fair.

Asked about the possibility of military action to force Iraq to cooperate, he said: ``Iraq does not fear the threat of the United States because it has been threatening Iraq for the past eight years.''

Yesterday, a four-man team from the IAEAleft their headquarters on the edge of Baghdad for a monitoring assignment, refusing to speak to the media. A UN official said other weapons monitors would not be working. He spoke on condition of anonymity.