TEHRAN — Iran has begun to triple its capacity to enrich uranium, a process that can produce fuel for nuclear weapons or power plants, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday on state television.
Iran already has about 3,000 centrifuges operating, according to international inspectors. Ahmadinejad said that his country had begun installing 6,000 more. Arms-control experts estimate that 3,000 centrifuges, operating continuously for one year, can produce enough highly enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb.
Iran’s nuclear ambitions worry the U.S. and its allies, which accuse Iran of using a civilian atomic energy program to mask a drive for weapons of mass destruction. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ruled that nuclear weapons are against Islam, and the country’s leaders insist their nuclear program is meant only to produce energy.
Ahmadinejad trumpeted the country’s nuclear accomplishments while inspecting the controversial enrichment facility in the central Iranian city of Natanz on the country’s third annual National Day of Nuclear Technology, which marks the anniversary of the day Iran began producing enriched uranium.
Iran’s state-controlled television and radio have been broadcasting promotional programs touting Iran’s nuclear achievements. In downtown Tehran, pro-government activists distributed sweets to passers-by in commemoration of the holiday.
The U.N. Security Council last month imposed a third round of relatively mild economic sanctions on Iran over its enrichment program, a move Iran called “unlawful.”
The U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna urged Iran on Tuesday to reconsider a 2006 offer by Europe, Russia, China and the U.S. to provide the country with nuclear technology and fuel, rather than further defying the Security Council’s demand to suspend enrichment.
“This approach has not brought Iran international respect or accolade but rather increasing censure and sanction,” Gregory L. Schulte said. “Today’s announcement shows clear intent to even further violate Security Council requirements. Negotiation, not escalation, provides the best path to international respect and regional security.”
Iran rejected the 2006 offer because it did not want to rely on an outside source for nuclear fuel and insists it has the right to produce its own, despite the Security Council resolutions ordering a halt.
