Iran's President Mahmoud Ahamadinejad announced on Tuesday that Iran is installing 6,000 new centrifuges at an uranium enrichment plant. The announcement drew sharp criticism from the United States and is expected to deepen the political rift between Iran and the West.

Washington's chief negotiator on the North Korean nuclear issue says the multinational talks are not at a stalemate. He says, despite its failure to produce a promised description of its nuclear activities, Pyongyang wants to clarify issues of concern. Hill also says North Korea's chief negotiator told him Pyongyang is not sharing nuclear technology with other countries. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Seoul.

Iran will not stop uranium enrichment as a condition for the resumption of direct talks with the United States, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Wednesday that his country had achieved a landmark, with 3,000 centrifuges fully working in its controversial uranium enrichment program.

Iranian officials and experts from the UN nuclear watchdog have completed a round of talks on Tehran's controversial nuclear program, Iran's IRNA news agency said.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said a meeting in Rome with Iran's new top negotiator on Tehran's nuclear program was "constructive". A new round of talks is expected to be held by the end of November.

UN experts arrive in Iran on Monday for talks on the Islamic Republic's controversial uranium enrichment activities, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) said citing a reliable source.

France's foreign minister says world powers should brace for a possible war with Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. In an interview broadcast Sunday on French radio and television, Bernard Kouchner said negotiations to resolve the nuclear standoff with Tehran are the top priority.

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Monday a plan worked out jointly by the agency and Tehran on Iran's controversial nuclear program was "an important step in the right direction."

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad says his country now has 3,000 centrifuges that are enriching uranium. Ahmadinejad said that Iran has taken "another step in the nuclear progress and launched more than 3,000 centrifuge machines."

Western news agencies have quoted a confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as saying that Iran is cooperating with IAEA inspectors to resolve outstanding issues.

Four inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog arrived in Tehran Monday to discuss further technical issues in talks aimed at allaying international concerns over Iran's nuclear program, the IRNA news agency said.