Iran says using new advanced uranium centrifuges

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian news agency says that the
country has started using new advanced centrifuges at its main uranium
enrichment site.

The semiofficial Fars agency reported Wednesday that a “new
generation of Iranian centrifuges” had been installed and operated at the
Natanz site in the center of the country.

Iran the same day announced that it had begun loading
domestically made nuclear fuel rods into its Tehran research reactor, a defiant
move in response to toughening Western sanctions over its controversial nuclear
program.

The West suspects Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at
producing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it’s geared for
peaceful purposes only, such as energy production.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further
information. AP’s earlier story is below.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran began loading domestically made
nuclear fuel rods into its Tehran research reactor on Wednesday, a defiant move
in response to toughening Western sanctions over its controversial nuclear
program.

The official IRNA news agency said President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad inserted the first Iranian-made rod into the reactor in northern
Tehran, and state TV broadcast live images from the ceremony with Iranian
nuclear experts briefing Ahmadinejad on the process.

Iran touted the development as an incremental step in the
country’s efforts to master the complete nuclear fuel cycle, despite Western
penalties and U.N. sanctions.

The West suspects Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at
producing atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it’s geared for
peaceful purposes only, such as energy production. The Tehran reactor, for
example, produces nuclear isotopes for treating cancer patients.

The development came as Iran said Wednesday it cut oil
exports to six European countries — the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France,
Greece and Portugal — in response to recent new European Union sanctions.

The move comes days after Iran’s Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi
said Tehran could cut off oil exports to “hostile” European nations as tensions
rose over suggestions that military strikes are an increasing possibility if
sanctions fail to rein in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions.

Iran argues that the EU oil embargo will not cripple its
economy, claiming that the country already has identified new customers to
replace the loss in European sales that account for about 18 percent of Iran’s
exports. Members of Iran’s parliament have been discussing a draft bill,
although not finalized, which would cut off the flow to the European Union
before the latest EU sanctions on Iran go into effect this summer.

Iran has said it is forced to manufacture nuclear fuel rods,
which provide fuel for reactors, on its own since international sanctions ban
it from buying them on foreign markets. In January, Iran said it had produced
its first such fuel rod.

Iran’s unchecked pursuit of the nuclear program scuttled
negotiations a year ago but Iranian officials last month proposed a return to
the talks with the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany.

In the past, Iran has angered Western officials by appearing
to buy time through opening talks and weighing proposals even while pressing
ahead with the nuclear program.

Apart from the EU’s recent measures on Iran, which include
an oil embargo and a freeze of the country’s central bank assets, Washington
also recently levied new penalties aimed at limiting Iran’s ability to sell oil
— which accounts for 80 percent of its foreign revenue.

Israel is worried Iran could be on the brink of an atomic
bomb and many Israeli officials believe sanctions only give Tehran time to move
its nuclear program underground, out of reach of Israeli military strikes. The
U.S. and its allies argue that Israel should hold off on any military strike on
Iranian nuclear facilities to allow more time for sanctions to work.

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