Iran says the country's uranium enrichment program is ready to operate on an "industrial level." The announcement comes on the first anniversary of what Iran announced was its first success in enriching small amounts of uranium at Natanz.
"We have gathered here today to celebrate the entry of the uranium enrichment project into an industrial level, thanks to God's eternal blessing," the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, told a gathering at the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility in central Iran.
"Now we are entering the mass production of centrifuges and starting to launch industrial-scale enrichment, another step toward the flourishing of Islamic Iran," AP quoted Aghazadeh as saying.
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad then delivered a key speech in connection with the event, at which the state-run television had predicted he would announce "good nuclear news."
He said Iran has now joined the club of countries with "industrial-level" nuclear enrichment and added that world powers cannot stop Iran's nuclear drive. He said the country's atomic program is on its way to the "summit."
The UN Security Council has approved two resolutions in the past four months to impose sanctions on Iran in an effort to pressure the country to halt uranium enrichment.
U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Iran of covertly seeking to develop or possess nuclear weapons, a scenario that President George W. Bush insists is "unacceptable."
Officials in Tehran have consistently insisted their nuclear efforts are purely peaceful.
The UN nuclear guardian, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has criticized Iran for obfuscation and a lack of disclosure, and said it has insufficient evidence to conclude that Iran's nuclear program is dedicated to solely to nonmilitary aims.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on April 8 that Iran will not negotiate over its "obvious rights" to enrich uranium. He added that Iran's military is "totally prepared" to defend the country.
Copyright (c) 2007. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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