The Iranian government has announced that it has successfully enriched uranium for the first time. This is a major achievement on the road to developing nuclear technology.
Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called on the West 'not to cause an everlasting hatred in the hearts of Iranians' by trying to force Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment program.
The U.N. Security Council had demanded that Iran end all nuclear enrichment by April 28. Obviously, Tehran has not agreed to this deadline.
'At this historic moment, with the blessings of God almighty and the efforts made by our scientists, I declare here that the laboratory-scale nuclear fuel cycle has been completed and young scientists produced enriched uranium needed to the degree for nuclear power plants Sunday,' Ahmadinejad said.
'I formally declare that Iran has joined the club of nuclear countries,' he announced in a speech in the northwestern holy city of Mashhad.
The crowd broke into cheers of 'Allahu akbar!' or 'God is great!' Some stood and thrust their fists defiantly in the air.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the move underscored the problems in dealing with Iran. 'This is a regime that needs to be building confidence with the international community,' McClellan said. 'Instead, they're moving in the wrong direction.'
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said the Iranians' announcement 'shows that they're not paying any attention to what the Security Council has said. And it shows why we feel a sense of urgency here that we have to have Iran realize the mistaken course it's pursuing,' he told the Associated Press.
The announcement does not mean that Iran is now capable of building a nuclear power plant or nuclear weapons. The project would have to be carried out on a much larger scale. Even if they continue pushing their nuclear enrichment program forward, Iran is still a several years away from being able to produce nuclear weapons.
While President Bush said he would not allow Tehran to develop a nuclear arsenal, his options to stop them are limited with American troops bogged down in Iraq and also fighting in Afghanistan.
