Defiant Iran announces two nuclear-related projects
Both would expand the country's ability to extract and process uranium, potentially for atomic weapons
Topics: From the Wires, Associated Press, Iran, Yellowcake, Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, aol_on, Video, 4 News, News
In this photo released by the official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks at a ceremony marking Iran's National Day of Nuclear Technology, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, April 9, 2013. Iran announced two key nuclear-related projects on Tuesday that expand the country's ability to extract and process uranium, which can be enriched for reactor fuel but also potentially for atomic weapons. Ahmadinejad ordered the symbolic start of operations through a video conference for Iran's National Day of Nuclear Technology, which marks the anniversary of the first time Iran enriched uranium in 2006. The portraits at center show Iran's slain nuclear scientists and workers. (AP Photo/Rouzbeh Jadidoleslam, Presidency Office)(Credit: AP)TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran announced two key nuclear-related projects on Tuesday that expand the country’s ability to extract and process uranium, which can be enriched for reactor fuel but also potentially for atomic weapons.
The development came just days after another round of talks with world powers seeking to limit Tehran’s atomic program ended in a stalemate.
Iran already has uranium mines and the ability to turn the raw ore into a material called yellowcake, which is the first step in the enrichment chain. But the new facilities — the country’s largest uranium mine and processing facility — give Tehran more self-sufficiency over the raw materials and underscore Iran’s drive to expand its nuclear capacities even as world powers press for concessions.
Iran and the six-nation group — the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany — remain stalemated after the latest round of talks last week over efforts to rein in Iran’s nuclear program. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said the “door was still open” for a negotiated pact with Iran, but urged Tehran’s leaders to take the first steps to address international concerns that they could seek nuclear weapons.
Iran says it only wants nuclear reactors for electricity and medical applications. Iranian authorities have demanded that world powers acknowledge the country’s right to enrich uranium and ease U.N. and Western sanctions.
“President (Barack) Obama could not be more clear: Iran cannot have and will not have a nuclear weapon,” Kerry said on Tuesday following talks in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose nation has warned it could consider military options against Iranian nuclear sites.
“We are open to negotiation,” Kerry added. “But it is not open-ended, endless negotiation. It cannot be used as an excuse for other effort to try to break out with respect to a nuclear weapon.”
Tuesday’s announcement of the new uranium sites suggests Iran intends to follow through with pledges to expand its nuclear capabilities in defiance of sanctions and other diplomatic pressures.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the start of symbolic start of operations through a video conference for Iran’s National Day of Nuclear Technology, which marks the anniversary of the first time Iran enriched uranium in 2006.




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