President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hinted today that Iran was determined to enrich uranium to 20 per cent level if Western powers fail to accept Tehran's counter-proposal concerning a UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal.
Ahmadinejad said Iran will make an announcement regarding the enrichment of uranium to 20 per cent purity when the nation marks next month the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution which toppled the US-backed shah.
"Iran has given a chance to Western countries," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by Fars news agency when asked by reporters about Iran's deadline to world powers over the nuclear fuel deal and when Tehran will produce 20 per cent enriched uranium.
"Therefore, during the 10 days of dawn (February 1 to 11) we will announce good news regarding the production of 20 percent enriched fuel in our country," he said referring to the period marking the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"This news is so sweet that it will make any Iranian and any freedom loving person in the world happy. This news is
about Iran's scientific advancement," Fars quoted the
president as saying.
The UN atomic watchdog has offered a proposal which sees the bulk of Iran's low-enriched uranium being sent to Russia and France in one shot for further enrichment to 20 per cent level and then returned as fuel for a Tehran research reactor.
