Report: Iran Expanding Uranium Enrichment
19 April 2010
Iran may be in the early stages of building a new uranium enrichment facility, in spite of international pressure to stop expansion of its nuclear program.
Iran's ILNA news agency says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has approved an unspecified site for the plant. The agency quotes top presidential adviser Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi as saying construction will begin at the site upon the president's "order."
The United States has been leading efforts for the United Nations to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran for its disputed nuclear program. World powers believe Tehran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons, but Iran has insisted its program is for peaceful, civilian purposes.
Last November, Iran announced plans to build 10 uranium enrichment facilities. Earlier this year, officials said construction would start at two sites by March 2011.
On Saturday, President Ahmadinejad opened a two-day nuclear disarmament conference in Tehran with a call for the U.S. to be suspended from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog group. He said only countries that do not hold nuclear weapons should review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Diplomats from Syria, Lebanon and Iraq expressed support Saturday for Iran's right to develop a peaceful nuclear program.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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