Iran: Nuclear program stepped up - CNN.com
Iran: Nuclear program stepped up
POSTED: 11:53 a.m. EDT, April 9, 2007
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday the country's nuclear fuel production program had reached "industrial" levels, setting Tehran on a fresh collision course with Western governments over its atomic ambitions.
A U.S. State Department spokesman said the announcement was "another signal Iran is in defiance of the international community." Iran has already faced United Nations sanctions over its refusal to back down from developing nuclear fuel.
"Iran has succeeded in development to attain production at an industrial level," said Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressing an audience at the Natanz nuclear facility as part of a ceremony marking the anniversary of the start of uranium enrichment at the plant.
"With great pride, I announce that as of today, our dear country, Iran, is among the countries of the world that produces the industrial level of nuclear fuel."
Ahmadinejad vowed the fuel would be used for energy, "and for the expansion of peace and stability."
He added that the goal of "progress" for Iran was "irreversible."
Earlier, Iranian nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh said: "We have gathered, thanking Almighty God for the introduction of the uranium enrichment program to the industrial phase, and once again we thank Almighty God for allowing us to attain industrial enrichment plans."
Iran has repeatedly said uranium enrichment, which the United Nations has demanded it stop, is its right and will not be abandoned. The 15-member Security Council voted unanimously last month to pass Resolution 1747.
The U.S. and other nations contend that Iran is using the project to develop nuclear weapons, a claim Iran denies.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called Monday's development a "missed opportunity" for Iranian leaders to have announced the suspension of uranium enrichment in response to international concerns.
But McCormack said no one disputed Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy, adding: "There is a negotiation alternative."
Germany's Foreign Ministry, which currently holds the EU presidency, said the move showed Iran was "definitively going in the wrong direction," The Associated Press reported.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told reporters that the country would be forced to review its membership of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if it continued to face international pressure over its nuclear ambitions, Reuters reported.
"If they continue to pressure Iran over its peaceful nuclear activities we have no other choice but to follow parliament's order and review our membership of the NPT," said Larijani.
But in a speech earlier Monday reported by Iranian state media, Larijani said Tehran hoped to reach an agreement with Western powers that would "remove their worries" without compromising its own scientific development.
"Today, with the nuclear fuel cycle complete, we are ready to begin real negotiations with the aim of reaching an understanding," Larijani was quoted as saying in the speech in the eastern city of Mashad.
"We are ready to negotiate and reach an agreement with Western countries in order to remove their worries about nuclear Iran without putting an end to our scientific development."
Throughout Iran on Monday, celebrations and demonstrations were taking place to mark what the country was calling the "National Nuclear Feast," as well as marking the date 27 years ago that Washington severed diplomatic relations with Tehran.
Bells rung at schools throughout the country, and the kids chanted slogans such as "Nuclear energy is an inalienable right of the Iranian nation", "No country has the right to deprive Iran of its indisputable right", and "The Iranian nation is in need of nuclear fuel cycle," state-run news agency IRNA said.
In Tehran, around 200 students gathered in front of the Atomic Energy Organization, chanting "death to America" and "death to Britain" and burning American and British flags, The Associated Press reported.
Up to 15,000 students also planned to hold hands around the Natanz plant to show their support for "Iran's peaceful ambitions, state-run news agency IRNA said.
Tensions between Iran and the West have also been heightened by last month's seizure of 15 British sailors and marines by Iranian forces while on patrol in the Persian Gulf. The 15 were released by Tehran last week after 13 days in Iranian detention. (New video shows Britons 'in comfort').