A new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says that Iran has begun a new stage of uranium enrichment despite a new offer of incentives from the U.S. and European Union to encourage a halt to the process.
The IAEA filed a report with 35 nations stating that Iran was installing more cascades of centrifuge enrichment machines. The report also indicates that Iran has resumed feeding 'UF6' uranium gas into its pilot 164-centrifuge cascade in Natanz on Tuesday after a pause of several weeks to do test runs of the machines without UF6.
The author of the report is IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei. The IAEA is a watchdog agency affiliated with the United Nations.
The United States and European nations had just produced an offer to Iran to suspend enrichment which included generous incentives. The deal would have allowed Iran to continue to develop nuclear technology for fuel use, a major concession to Tehran.
The Iranian government claims that its nuclear research program is only for peaceful purposes. The United States and E.U. fear that Iran, which is the fourth largest oil-producing nation in the world, is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
The IAEA is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the report's findings. Negotiations with Iran are likely to continue but it appears the West will have to deal with Iran's advances in nuclear technology as a fact. Whether or not there is any way for the U.S. to prevent Iran from eventually developing nuclear weapons remains to be seen.
