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Iran steps up n-programme

Atul Aneja

U.S. naval exercises in Gulf

DUBAI: Iran has announced that it has stepped up uranium enrichment amid ongoing negotiations among the five Security Council members and Germany over the imposition of possible sanctions against Tehran.

The Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) quoted an unnamed official as saying that gas had been fed into the second cascade of centrifuges used for uranium enrichment. Enrichment is carried out when uranium hexafluoride gas is spun at high speed in a chain of centrifuges called cascades.

"The second cascade was set up two weeks ago and this week gas was injected in them," the report said. According to the ISNA source, "we have the product of the second cascade."

IAEA informed

The report added that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had been informed in advance before the activation of the second cascade. Iran had enriched a small quantity of uranium in February using its first cascade of 168 centrifuges. Thousands of centrifuges are required to carry out industrial scale enrichment.

The Security Council and Germany have been urging Iran to halt enrichment as a precondition for talks aimed at defusing tensions over the Iranian nuclear programme. Analysts point out that United States, Britain and France are reinforcing their diplomatic pressure on Iran through "gunboat diplomacy."

U.S. naval warships are arriving in the Gulf for naval exercises, which begin on Sunday. Two Gulf countries — Bahrain and Kuwait will also participate in these manoeuvres, which are likely to involve two American aircraft carriers. An Iranian Foreign Ministry official has already described these exercises as "dangerous and suspicious."

According to diplomatic sources, Iran is also concerned over the recent changes in the Israeli establishment. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed Avigodor Lieberman as his Vice-Premier and Minister for "strategic threats." Mr. Lieberman has publicly advocated that Iran's nuclear facilities should be bombed.

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