Iran increases uranium enrichment production

Iran on Tuesday announced that it had started to produce higher grade uranium just as western powers warned that such a move would inevitably lead to fresh sanctions against the Islamic regime.

Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's president, declared at the weekend that Tehran intends to enrich uranium up to 20 per cent raising fears that it was moving closer to the level needed to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran insists the higher grade uranium is for a Tehran research reactor making medical isotopes.

On Tuesday Iran's top nuclear official said preparatory work had started and production of the higher grade fuel would be officially launched later in the day. Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency - the UN's nuclear watchdog - have been invited said Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation.

Iran intends to enrich uranium up to 20 per cent The US on Monday launched a renewed push to rally support for sanctions against Iran after President Mahmoud Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's declaration.

Speaking in Paris, Robert Gates, US defence secretary, said that "the only path that is left" was to increase international pressure on Iran, but that it would require unity among the world's big powers to do so.

His language was among the toughest yet from an administration that took office offering unconditional negotiations with Tehran but is now backing tough sanctions.

China has resisted the new round of United Nations sanctions championed by the US. But Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's declaration Iran intends to enrich uranium up to 20 per cent has raised the stakes in the stand-off over its nuclear programme.

"The achievement of a 20 per cent enriched uranium would be another great step on the road to acquiring weapons grade material," said a French diplomat.

The IAEA confirmed on Monday night Tehran had formally notified it of the enrichment plans, which the UN watchdog "noted with concern".

The British Foreign Office said Iran's plans "would just add to the catalogue of concerns about a nuclear programme with no civilian application, in a country building nuclear facilities in secret and refusing to answer IAEA questions about weapons related activity."

Tehran insists its programme is peaceful and says it wants enriched uranium for use in a medical research reactor at the centre of abortive negotiations with the US and other powers.

Western diplomats have drawn comfort from apparent problems Iran has experienced with its enrichment plant in Natanz.

"The problems they face with the programme are sufficiently strong for this to have had an impact on Israeli thinking," said a European diplomat. "Israel is not as poised to take military action as had once been expected - although I would not rule out the military option out."

However, David Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, said that Iran still had thousands more centrifuges that could be used to produce 20 per cent uranium.

He added that enriching uranium to 20 per cent would take Iran about 90 per cent of the way to weapons grade material. Iran has already accumulated a stockpile of 1.8 tonnes of uranium enriched to lower levels - more than enough, if further enriched, to produce fissile material for a bomb.

"They don't need all that stockpile for their clunky old medical research reactor," he said. "But if they do run through all that fuel [and enrich it to 20 per cent] that's a very big deal and it could prompt Israel to strike."

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