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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 site in Natanz, state media quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying. Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its main nuclear plant in Natanz, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.
He made the comments during a visit to the site to mark national nuclear day. 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 the Natanz plant. 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, who accuse Iran of wanting to enrich uranium to build nuclear weapons, condemned the news but disagreed on how to respond. The US and Western allies condemned him but disagreed on how to respond.
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). Later, Mr Ahmadinejad claimed Iran had tested on Tuesday advanced new equipment - thought to be a reference to a possible new generation of centrifuges.
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. 'Five times greater'
'Generous incentives' "The capacity of these new machines... is five times greater than the current machines," he told a televised event in Tehran.
"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. He made the comments following a visit to Natanz to mark national nuclear day.
Reacting to the news, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appealed to Iran to accept a deal and halt enrichment. Iran has been enriching uranium at its underground facility in Natanz
"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. 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.
"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." "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".
Russian rejection Last month, the UN Security Council approved a third round of sanctions against Iran.
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said such moves were not "on the agenda". But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov instead suggested a new package of incentives to encourage Iran to halt uranium enrichment.
"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.