Oil hovers at $144, Iran sends mixed signals

* Oil hovers above $144 a barrel, up 50 pct this year

* Iran vows to pursue its uranium enrichment programme

* OPEC President Chakib Khelil rules out oil price fall

By Fayen Wong

PERTH, July 7 (Reuters) - Oil was little changed at around $144 a barrel on Monday, holding near last week's record high after Iran reasserted its right to pursue uranium enrichment.

U.S. light crude for August delivery CLc1 traded at $143.92 a barrel by 0108 GMT, a touch firmer than late Friday dealing. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) did not issue an official Friday closing price due to the July 4 holiday.

London Brent crude LCOc1 rose 23 cents to $144.65.

Oil hit a record $145.85 hit on Thursday, but fell more than $1 on Friday as traders anticipated easing tensions between Iran and the West after Tehran responded to a package of incentives to try to resolve the long-running dispute over its nuclear efforts.

But in its first public response to the offer on Saturday, Iran vowed to pursue its enrichment programme, saying it had no intention of discussing its "right to enriching uranium". [ID:nHAF533833]