Iran joins nuclear technology club

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday Iran had joined the group of countries possessing nuclear technology and was determined to achieve industrial-scale uranium enrichment.

The United States said Iran was "moving in the wrong direction" with its nuclear programme and if it persisted, the United States would discuss possible next steps with the UN Security Council.

"I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear technology. This is the result of the Iranian nation's resistance," Ahmadinejad said in a televised address from the north-eastern city of Mashhad.

"Based on international regulations, we will continue our path until we achieve production of industrial-scale enrichment," he said, adding that the West must respect Iran's right to peaceful atomic technology.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Washington would "be talking about the way forward with the other members of the Security Council and Germany about how to address this" if Iran continued to move in its current direction.

The United States says Iran's nuclear programme is a cover for developing nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists it is for civilian purposes to generate electricity.

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said earlier that Iran had enriched uranium to a level used in nuclear power plants.

"I am proud to announce that we have started enriching uranium to the 3.5 per cent level," Gholamreza Aghazadeh said, adding that the pilot enrichment plant in Natanz, south of Tehran, had started working on Monday.

Influential former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said earlier yesterday that Iran was producing enriched uranium from a cascade of 164 centrifuges.

Iran's announcement is a serious setback to UN Security Council efforts to have Tehran halt enrichment work. It could escalate a confrontation with Western powers leading to consideration of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

"We operated the first unit which comprises of 164 centrifuges, gas was injected, and we got the industrial output," Rafsanjani said in an interview with the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA.

"There needs to be an expansion of operations if we are to have a complete industrial unit; tens of units are required to set up a uranium enrichment plant," said Rafsanjani, who was Ahmadinejad's rival in last year's presidential race.

Rafsanjani's announcement may have been aimed at trumping his rival and taking credit for progress in the nuclear programme, which has broad support in Iran, analysts said.

"They are competing with each other for who will be the first person," political analyst Saeed Laylaz said.

The UN Security Council has demanded Iran shelve enrichment activity and on March 29 asked the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report on its compliance in 30 days.

An IAEA spokesman declined comment on Iran's announcement and said no official agency reaction was likely for the time being.