Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States of hypocrisy during a visit to the World Expo in Shanghai on Friday, two days after host China yielded to international pressure to back new nuclear sanctions against Tehran.

"How can they have the right to impose pressure on other countries who are willing to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes?" Ahmadinejad said while touring the Iranian pavilion at the World Expo. He said the U.S. was the only country to use a nuclear weapon against another.

"How can they stop Iran's peaceful nuclear program only with the reason that it 'may be' used for manufacturing nuclear weapons?" he told reporters.

Ahmadinejad was not scheduled to meet Chinese leaders while in China. He also skipped Thursday's summit in Uzbekistan of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which was attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao. Iran is an observer in that group.

The new sanctions, agreed to Wednesday by the U.N. Security Council, seek to punish Iran for rejecting proposals to halt uranium enrichment and take its nuclear fuel from abroad. The West and its allies fear Iran is developing nuclear weapons, though Iran says it is seeking nuclear power only for peaceful energy and medical research purposes.

As a permanent member of the Security Council and key Iranian ally, China could have exercised its veto power to block the sanctions. But it reversed its earlier opposition out of frustration with Tehran's intransigence and a desire to avoid becoming isolated over the issue, analysts said.

The U.N. resolution approved Wednesday targets Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, ballistic missiles and nuclear-related investments in a bid to compel Tehran to cooperate with international inspectors.

China's Foreign Ministry said Thursday its support for fresh sanctions should not block efforts to find a diplomatic solution, and called for renewed attempts to bring Iran back to the negotiating table.

Details of negotiations with China over the sanctions are unknown. But Beijing appeared to be satisfied that the sanctions would not harm its economic ties with Iran, with whom bilateral trade reached at least $36.5 billion last year. Iran meets 11 percent of China's energy needs and Chinese companies have major investments in Iranian energy extraction projects and the construction of roads, bridges and power plants.

It wasn't clear what effect the vote would have on relations between Tehran and Beijing. Last month, Ahmadinejad rebuked Russia, which also backed sanctions, warning its leaders "to correct themselves, and not let the Iranian nation consider them among its enemies."

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Associated Press writer Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report.