US 'concerned' about Iranian nuclear advance
The White House has said it is 'very concerned' about Iran's annoucement today that it has entered the industrial stage of its nuclear programme.
Iran announcement that it has begun enriching uranium with 3,000 centrifuges, is a dramatic expansion of a nuclear programme that has drawn United Nations sanctions and condemnation from the West.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a ceremony at the enrichment facility at Natanz that Iran was now capable of enriching nuclear fuel “on an industrial scale.”
Asked if Iran has begun injecting uranium gas into 3,000 centrifuges for enrichment, the country's leading nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, replied, “Yes”. He did not elaborate, but it was the first confirmation that Iran had installed the larger set of centrifuges after months of saying it intends to do so. Until now, Iran was only known to have 328 centrifuges operating.
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U.S. says Iran statements show Tehran's defiance
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran's latest statements on its nuclear program were "another signal" that Tehran was defying the international community's call to give up enrichment activities, the United States said on Monday.
"It's a missed opportunity," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said when asked about Iran's announcement that it had begun industrial scale nuclear fuel production. "This is another signal that Iran is defying the international community."
Western nations, led by the United States, suspect Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Iran says the nuclear fuel will only be used to generate electricity.
McCormack said he hoped "reasonable" Iranian leaders would do the cost-benefit calculations and see that the current approach did not benefit Iran's people.
"There is a way out. There is a negotiation alternative should the Iranian leadership choose to take it. To date they have not and today is another indication that they have chosen not to," said McCormack.
He said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech showed that U.N. actions against Tehran were legitimate and justified. The United Nations has imposed two rounds of sanctions against Tehran for its refusal to give up sensitive enrichment work.
"The overall trend line is Iran continuing to defy the international system and once again only raising questions about the intentions of their nuclear program," McCormack said.
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EU: Iran going in "wrong direction"
Iran is ''definitively going in the wrong direction,'' the Foreign Ministry in Germany said on Monday following Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcment earlier in the day that his country has begun enriching uranium with 3,000 centrifuges.
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Pertinent Links:
1) US 'concerned' about Iranian nuclear advance
2) U.S. says Iran statements show Tehran's defiance
3) EU: Iran going in "wrong direction"
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