Iran intends to keep refining uranium
Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani said in Tehran that Iran was ready to provide nuclear fuel enriched to 20 percent to other countries under the supervision of the IAEA, whose task it is to prevent the spread of nuclear weaponry in the world.Even though Western experts doubt that Iran has the ability to mass-produce such fuel, his statement was a clear indication that Tehran intends to keep refining uranium, a process that can have both civilian and military purposes.Iran's enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, compared with the 3.5 percent normally needed to fuel power plants, has drawn Western condemnation as it takes the country significantly closer to 90 percent weapons grade material.On Wednesday, Iran announced it had loaded domestically-made uranium fuel rods, enriched to 20 percent, into a research reactor for the first time. It also said that upgraded centrifuges able to enrich uranium faster and more efficiently had gone into production.Nuclear experts cast doubt on the announced achievements, but Western capitals still expressed concern about Iran's refusal to back down in the long-running dispute, which has the potential to spark a wider Middle East conflict."Today Iran possesses the necessary technology for the production of nuclear fuel at 20 percent and other countries can buy fuel by entering into an agreement under the supervision of the IAEA," Iranian media quoted Abbasi Davani as saying.