Iran Vows To Enrich Uranium

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered his nation's nuclear agency to enrich uranium to higher levels.

On Morning Edition, NPR's Mike Shuster reported that:

 

Iran has been threatening to take this step for months. But it has also been engaged with the US and Europe in an extended quasi-negotiation to send its low enriched uranium to Russia and France for further processing. The idea is to produce nuclear fuel for a research reactor in Tehran that manufactures isotopes for medical care.

Twice, Ahmadinejad said he would participate in such a deal. The latest was last week.

And then yesterday, in a speech in Tehran with Iran's key nuclear officials present, Ahmadinejad said the U.S. and Europe had failed to respond to its offers. And he issued instructions to "begin production of 20% enriched uranium with the centrifuges" — while also saying that "the way is still open for interaction."

Ahmadinejad's action was puzzling. Just the day before, on Saturday, Iran's foreign minister, Manochehr Mottaki, said Iran was ready to make a deal for its enriched uranium.

But the conflicting voices coming from Iranian leaders have only served to deepen the doubts of U.S. officials. President Obama's national security adviser, retired general James Jones, expressed the view that more sanctions against Iran are coming.

Ahmadinejad's command to enrich its uranium to 20% of the isotope U-235 is baffling in and of itself. Iran has the machinery to do it — thousands of gas centrifuges installed at a facility at Natanz. But according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which regularly monitors Iran's uranium enrichment process, it does not have the capability to turn that enriched uranium into reactor fuel. That is why there have been talks about sending the uranium to Russia and France, which do have the necessary technical capabilities.

So suspicions have deepened that Iran's ultimate goal is 90% enriched uranium, which would form the explosive core of a nuclear bomb.

In Rome on Sunday, Secretary of Defense Gates also warned that more sanctions could follow.

All of this is happening as Iran's opposition movement plans large demonstrations on Thursday, the anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution. The leaders of the movement are urging protesters to take to the streets. Iran's security forces are threatening to use violence to stop that from happening.

Here's the audio of Mike's report: