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Iran and their enrichment of uranium

Does Iran have the right to enrich uranium or should we stop them, at any cost. What say you.


TEHRAN, Iran – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed Thursday that Iran has produced its first batch of uranium enriched to a higher level, saying his country will not be bullied by the West into curtailing its nuclear program a day after the U.S. imposed new sanctions.

Ahmadinejad reiterated to hundreds of thousands of cheering Iranians on the anniversary of the 1979 foundation of the Islamic republic that the country was now a "nuclear state," an announcement he's made before. He insisted that Iran had no intention of building nuclear weapons.

It was not clear how much enriched material had actually been produced just two days after the process was announced to have started.

The United States and some of its allies accuse Tehran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to build nuclear weapons but Tehran denies the charge, saying the program is just geared toward generating electricity.

"I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of 20 percent fuel was produced and provided to the scientists," he said.

Enriching uranium produces fuel for a nuclear power plants but can also be used to create material for atomic weapons if enriched further to 90 percent or more.

"We have the capability to enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent but we don't enrich (to this level) because we don't need it," he said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

Iran announced Tuesday it was beginning the process of enriching its uranium stockpile to a higher level. The international community reacted by discussing the imposition of new U.N. sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury Department went ahead on Wednesday and froze the assets in U.S. jurisdictions of a Revolutionary Guard general and four subsidiaries of a construction firm he runs for their alleged involvement in producing and spreading weapons of mass destruction.
4 Responses
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377493 tn?1356502149
A very difficult situation.  I have to agree with flmagi in that no one has the right to dictate that another country not be able to use nuclear power, especially for peaceful purposes.  The problem is that I think most of us believe that Iran has less then peaceful intentions....personally I believe their leader is a lunatic.  Him having access to nuclear weapons is a very very scary thought.  But, do other countries have the right to police them?  I am somewhere in the middle on this issue.
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Avatar universal
They claim to have the capability, however the US feels it is simply a political ploy. I sure hope we are right!
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306455 tn?1288862071
I don't know how we can deny a country nuclear power for electricity, when we have it. It's going beyond that point I find scary.
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Avatar universal
I guess they are offically a nuclear state now.
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