Iran to enrich uranium ‘with force:’ Nuke chief

TEHRAN - Agence France-Presse

An Iranian technician works at the Uranium Conversion Facility in this photo. Iran says nuclear enrichment advances with ’intensity.’ AP photo

Iran yesterday said it will pursue “with force” the sensitive work of enriching uranium, which lies at the heart of the international community’s concerns over its atomic drive.

“We will continue enrichment with force,” Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, was quoted as saying by official Iranian media.

Testing reactor
“Despite (international) sanctions, we have had a significant increase in the number of old and new generation centrifuges and enrichment and we will continue this development in this (Iranian) year” ending March 2013, he said.

Davani’s remarks come ahead of a meeting today in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over lack of progress in its efforts to verify whether Tehran’s atomic activities are peaceful.

Davani meanwhile said Iran would “soon test” its heavy water reactor which is under construction at the central town of Arak with “virtual fuel.” The IAEA noted in its report that Tehran was six months behind the earlier planned date of commissioning of the facility in the first quarter of 2014. “Despite rumors, I say it with determination that with God’s help and the effort exerted by our experts the Arak reactor is on schedule and is progressing without any problems,” he said.