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Iran 'installing new centrifuges' | Iran 'installing new centrifuges' |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its main nuclear plant in Natanz, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said. | |
He also appeared to cast doubt on the official version of the 9/11 attacks and accused the US of using them as a "pretext" to launch invasions. | |
Iran is already thought to have some 3,000 centrifuges - which are used to enrich uranium - at its Natanz plant. | |
The US and Western allies condemned him but disagreed on how to respond. | |
Later, Mr Ahmadinejad claimed Iran had tested on Tuesday advanced new equipment - thought to be a reference to a possible new generation of centrifuges. | |
'Five times greater' | |
"The capacity of these new machines... is five times greater than the current machines," he told a televised event in Tehran. | |
He made the comments following a visit to Natanz to mark national nuclear day. | |
Iran has been enriching uranium at its underground facility in Natanz | |
Turning his attention to the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "On the pretext of this incident a major military operation was launched and oppressed Afghanistan was attacked. | |
"Tens of thousands of people have been killed until now. Poor Iraq was attacked." | |
He also alleged the names of the people killed in the attacks on New York's World Trade Center had never been published. | |
And he added: "How is it possible that with the best radar systems and intelligence networks the planes could crash undetected into the towers?" | |
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appealed to Tehran to 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. | |
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner suggested sanctions on Iran could be "reinforced". | French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner suggested sanctions on Iran could be "reinforced". |
Last month, the UN Security Council approved a third round of sanctions against Iran. | |
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov instead suggested a new package of incentives to encourage Iran to halt uranium enrichment. | |