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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran says it has successfully enriched uranium |
| 2006-04-11 |
| Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirmed Tuesday that his country has successfully produced low-grade enriched uranium at a level sufficient to power nuclear plants. "I officially announce that Iran has joined countries with nuclear technology," Ahmadinejad said. He stressed that Iran's nuclear efforts were for peaceful efforts and that no country should stand in its way. "Our nation is a peaceful nation," Ahmadinejad said. The enrichment took place Sunday, the president said, adding that "our nuclear activities have been under complete supervision, unprecedented supervisions" by the International Atomic Energy Agency. "And today we are interested in operating under IAEA supervision," he said. IAEA inspectors are at a facility in Natanz, but it is unclear whether they witnessed the enrichment process. Earlier Tuesday, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's atomic energy agency, said that the Natanz facility had enriched uranium at 3.5 percent -- a low-grade level sufficient to run a power plant but not pure enough for weapons. The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran cease its enrichment activities, but Tehran says that the country has a right to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes. The West, led by the United States, believes that Iran plans to build nuclear weapons. Earlier, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani told the Kuwait News Agency that Iran's enrichment facility had successfully enriched uranium using a cascade of 164 centrifuges. Last month, Iran said it was producing enriched uranium from a cascade of 20 centrifuges. Thousands of the devices must operate in a series of cascades to yield enough highly enriched uranium needed for a nuclear bomb. After Rafsanjani's announcement, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters that Iran should be taking steps to renew confidence in its nuclear intentions, instead of moving in the "wrong direction." Iran's new statements would only result in further isolation, and the United States will have to consult with its allies on what the next step in the diplomatic standoff would be, McClellan said. Talks between Iran and Britain, France and Germany stalled in January when Iran began small-scale uranium enrichment and ended its voluntary cooperation with the IAEA, which had been conducting surprise inspections. IAEA Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei plans to visit Iran this week. Rafsanjani said ElBaradei would face "new circumstances" when he arrives but did not elaborate. Rafsanjani said that the attention given by the West had made Iran's nuclear program "extremely complicated," adding that "Iran is very serious about defending its legal rights." |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #1 They enriched the uranium. They Prayed to it and sang it a song, and held it up with a heroic stance. I believe they intend to enshrine the uranium. But they are not idol worshippers. |
| Posted by: jim#6 2006-04-11 22:58 |