Iran to produce 20% enriched uranium itself
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Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday Iran will produce 20 percent enriched uranium itself.
"Iran will produce the 20 percent (enriched uranium) fuel and anything that it needs itself," Ahmadinejad made the remarks in Iran's central city of Isfahan in live broadcast of state IRIB TV.
"From our point of view, the nuclear issue is already over," Ahmadinejad said.
Referring to the recent move by the six world major powers -- five permanent members of UN Security Council plus Germany -- in voting against Iran and to put pressure on the country on nuclear program, he added that "Iranian nation will not talk with you (G5+ 1) on nuclear issue."
He called on G5+1 by saying that "Iranian nation will not talk with you on nuclear issue."
UN nuclear watchdog IAEA has brokered a draft deal proposal which called for shipping some 70 percent of Iran's low-enriched uranium to Russia and France in exchange for fuel rods for research use, Iran has agreed to swap the fuel within its soil or otherwise to upgrade its low-enriched fuel itself.
Last Friday, the IAEA board of governors passed a resolution during a meeting last Friday in Vienna, calling for the "full cooperation" of Iran to clarify all outstanding issues involving its nuclear program and requiring Iran to stop construction on the newly-disclosed Fordo uranium enrichment facility near the central Iranian city of Qom.
Talking to a crowd in Isfahan, however, Ahmadinejad denounced the IAEA resolution and called it "illegal, illogical and unjust," saying that the resolution was issued "under the pressure of some apparently powerful states."
He reiterated that Iran will build 10 new nuclear enrichment sites at the scale of its main enrichment complex in the central city of Natanz.
On Sunday, Iran's government ordered the Atomic Energy Organization to build 10 new uranium enrichment sites in the country, the state IRIB TV reported.
Under a government decree, the Atomic Energy Organization will start the construction of five new uranium enrichment sites and will present its proposal for the locations of five others within two months, the report said.
Western powers suspected Iran of attempting to build nuclear weapons, but Tehran said its nuclear program was aimed at generating nuclear energy for civilian purposes.
