Update: Iranian President Reveals "Industrial-Scale" Enrichment Work in Defiance of UN Ban

April 09, 2007 10:42 AM

Brian Ross and Justin Rood Report:

Nm_ahmadinejad_070409_nr_2Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced today that Iran has reached the "industrial stage of producing nuclear fuel."  The announcement comes despite a recent United Nations Security Council resolution adopting sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt its enrichment efforts and renewed efforts by diplomats to restart talks aimed at ending Iran's program.

Although President Ahmadinejad did not disclose the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges now installed at the Natanz facility, ABC news reported last week that the number is l,000.  Since our report, that number has been further confirmed by U.S. intelligence sources familiar with what's taking place at Natanz. 

David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, told ABC News that while Ahmadinejad's claim to have 3,000 operating centrifuges can't be verified, the country is making rapid progress. "Iran appears to be trying to move steadily toward putting in place 3000 centrifuges in the underground site," he says. "Their certainly moving much faster this year to install centrifuges than they did last year."  According to non-U.S. government sources familiar with Iran's capability, it continues to work at a robust pace, installing about one 164 machines per week.

In addition to Iran's ongoing installation of centrifuges, it continues to refuse requests by the International Atomic Energy Agency to install remote monitoring equipment at the enrichment plant, some 200 miles south of Tehran.  Iran objects on grounds that the cameras are intrusive and not in use in similar facilities in Europe.  The IAEA counters that unannounced inspections of Iranian facilities are not feasible, where they occur regularly Europe.

The comments were made as part of "National Technology Day," a nationwide event drawing attention to Iran's advances in nuclear technology, and recognizes the 27th anniversary of the end of formal U.S.-Iranian diplomatic relations.  Iranian state television aired programs on nuclear fuel enrichment,  detailing how many nuclear plants were operating  in Western countries like the United States and Canada.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes,  and has rejected calls to halt uranium enrichment, which can be used for energy production or to arm nuclear weapons.


This post has been updated.

To Blotter Homepage

April 9, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (14)

User Comments

More evidence that we need to nuke this guy now. Don't give him a chance. I want Bush to announce we just turned Iran into industrial grade dust. !!! Update "President Bush announces we have we have enriched Iran into industrial Grade Dust".

Posted by: OilGuzzler | Apr 9, 2007 11:23:01 AM

What is the problem with the iranian pesident? Is this an act of constant defiance against the u.nations and the rest of the world that wants the controlled use and surveilance of nuclear activity. I guess i always give people the benifit of the doubt and i want to believe he is doing this for a good cause being he is trying to help his country thrive using the energy, but i hope that is truely what it is being used for,not to become a world powerhouse by show and willingness to show force.

Posted by: Todd | Apr 9, 2007 11:56:54 AM

They need to drop a nuke or 2 on Iran AND Iraq. Make one big, glass top driveway in the middle of the desert!!!

Posted by: Stacey | Apr 9, 2007 11:56:59 AM

In light of ABC News record of spreading administration falsehoods in the past, why should we take your word on this?

Who were the "four well-placed sources" feeding ABC News completely fictitious claims linking Saddam Hussein to the anthrax attacks, including false claims about the results of government tests? Are they the same sources as this report?

Your credibility is definitely in question. Show us the evidence.

Posted by: not the senator | Apr 9, 2007 12:25:20 PM

Brian Ross: Are the "U.S. intelligence sources" feeding you this information the same "U.S. intelligence sources" who fed you the false information about the bentonite in the anthrax used in the 2002 Senate anthrax attacks?

You never issued a retraction for that false story, and Glenn Greenwald is calling you out on it now.

Posted by: Tom Betz | Apr 9, 2007 12:36:36 PM

Iran is just another Terorrist nation that needs their ass kicked! You cannot take them at their word. They advocate the destruction of Israel and support groups that kill Innocent Israelis. If they had a nuclear weapon, they would use it in a heartbeat. They believe that the destruction of Israel is 'God's Plan". They do not answer to the international community. They answer to "ALLAH". What do they care if they blow up Israel, then get blown up themselves They think that is there duty and that they are doing this in the name of Islam. People need to realize that this is not going away.

Coming home from Iraq or anywhere else is not going to change the dangers that are real and are encountered in every part of the world. These terrorists want to die more than we want to live. Let that sink in real real good. THEY WANT TO DIE MORE THAN ANY OF US WANT TO LIVE. We as a people are too nice and until we get in the dirt with these murderers and thugs, and see it for what it is-WWIII-the fight of GOOD VS. Evil, we will not prevail.

I am a father of 2 and would not want to go over there because I want to see my family grow up and all of the things we love here in America. Well, everybody thinks like that and that is why we will lose. Do we think the terrorists care? No, they want to go to "Paradise". Does anyone know how they think they get there? Blowing your children up. People need to realize that these people will not stop. EVER. We need to stop treating this as "wow, it has been 4 years in Iraq, can't we come home. We need more troops there, not less.

Posted by: Alan | Apr 9, 2007 1:41:45 PM

There will no nuking of anyone, you basket cases.

Posted by: Eric | Apr 9, 2007 1:49:22 PM

But won't SOMEBODY THINK ABOUT the CHILDREN?

Posted by: SUVDrivingLib | Apr 9, 2007 1:53:06 PM

We need the United Nations to continue the sanctions on Iran. I know it’s a worthless group of people getting loads of American $$$$, but it’s one way to keep a thumb on bad people like Ahmadinejad. Sanctions are working because there is a discontent within the country. Let that bomb be the people of Iran saying they have had enough! Let us hope this works out, I really don’t want to see nukes from either side.

Posted by: Christine | Apr 9, 2007 8:07:54 PM

America use to walk softly and carry a big stick. George W. Bush picked up the big stick and struck out with it. It will take a decade or more to repair the damage done to our military. In the mean time look for other nations to exploit this weakness. They have no choice if they want to survive. America is going to go into the post Vietnam fetal position and I really hate to see it happen again.

Posted by: JTM | Apr 9, 2007 9:36:26 PM

Oh, I dunno. I'll go with the odds. Lots of countries have nukes and have had them for some time now.
But there's only one country I know of that has a history of ever using them on the population of another country.
Twice!
And you know, looking at the above comments, some of these people seem all too willing to do it again.
Now there's the real nuclear threat.

Posted by: Zach | Apr 9, 2007 10:02:20 PM

This is serious trouble.

Ahmadinejad has promised to make war on Israel as soon as he gets the bomb. Iran is preparing and testing missile technology to deliver the nuclear payload on Israel.

Hitler told the world what he was up to, and he was ignored. He did just what he said he would.

It is foolish to ignore any talk of this kind. Ahmadinejad has to prepare his own people for what he is going to do, and if there isn't strong opposition he'll carry out his threat.

All it takes is one nut with the power of a nuclear bomb behind his bluster and you can get millions of dead people.

Nuclear threats should be taken as extremely dangerous and hard measures should be taken to disarm those threats. The only best way is to remove the possibility of nuclear weapons.

Posted by: domineaux | Apr 13, 2007 4:30:58 PM

Who cares if Iran nukes Israel !

Israel is not US.

Posted by: White | Apr 17, 2007 4:52:49 PM

We need to have direct contact with this lunatic. Maybe if we show them what kind of friends we can be, he'll stop trying to make enemies of us.

Posted by: Timmy B | May 13, 2008 7:39:15 PM

Post a comment