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Iran 'installing new centrifuges' Iran 'installing new centrifuges'
(about 11 hours later)
Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its main nuclear site in Natanz, state media quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying.Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its main nuclear site in Natanz, state media quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying.
He made the comments during a visit to mark Iran's national nuclear day. He made the comments during a visit to the site to mark national nuclear day.
Iran is already thought to have some 3,000 centrifuges - which are used to enrich uranium - at the Natanz plant.Iran is already thought to have some 3,000 centrifuges - which are used to enrich uranium - at the Natanz plant.
The US and Western allies accuse Iran of wanting to enrich uranium to build nuclear weapons, but Iran vehemently denies this. The US and Western allies, who accuse Iran of wanting to enrich uranium to build nuclear weapons, condemned the news but disagreed on how to respond.
Iran says it is enriching uranium for a civilian nuclear energy programme and has continued to defy the UN Security Council's demand that it cease enrichment. Iran vehemently denies any ambitions to build nuclear weapons, saying it is solely pursuing civilian power generation and as such has not fallen foul of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Last month, the Council approved a third round of sanctions against Iran. Last month, the Council approved a third round of sanctions against Iran but Tehran has continued to defy the UN Security Council's demand that it cease enrichment.
'Generous incentives'
"Today [Tuesday] we have started the installation of 6,000 new centrifuges ... I will announce more achievements tonight," the official Irna news agency quoted Mr Ahmadinejad as saying at Natanz, in central Iran.
Reacting to the news, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appealed to Iran to accept a deal and halt enrichment.
"Iran faces continued isolation in the international community because it will not take a reasonable offer from the international community to have another way," she said in Washington.
"The six parties have put forward, I think, a very generous set of incentives should Iran agree to live up to the obligations that any state has when a Security Council resolution is passed."
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner suggested sanctions on Iran could be "reinforced".
Russian rejection
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said such moves were not "on the agenda".
"The [latest UN] resolution gives Iran 90 days to respond in detail and that has yet to expire. We have to wait for a response from Iran. I do not think that this response will please everyone," he said.
Instead, Mr Lavrov suggested a new package of economic, energy and security incentives to encourage Iran to halt uranium enrichment. He renewed warnings that the use of force against Iran would render any settlement impossible.
Iran's national nuclear day commemorates the April 2006 anniversary of its first production of uranium that was sufficiently enriched to make atomic fuel.Iran's national nuclear day commemorates the April 2006 anniversary of its first production of uranium that was sufficiently enriched to make atomic fuel.