Tehran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said
today that Iran's plan to build 10 new uranium enrichment
plants was not aimed at confronting the UN atomic watchdog,
which censured Tehran last month, state television website
reported.
He also said Iran will continue to build the new
plants, adding that sites for five of the 10 units had been
finalised.
"The news that we announced (about the new plants) was
not to confront the board of the agency, as we had assigned
the (Iranian) atomic energy organisation to locate several
sites (for the new plants) months ago," the state television
website quoted him as saying.
"We recently even asked them (Iran's atomic agency)
about the delay" in identifying the sites, Ahmadinejad said,
adding that Iran has always "acted on its decisions, which are
definite."
Soon after the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) condemned Iran for building its second uranium
enrichment plant late last month, Ahmadinejad announced his
government's decision to build 10 new plants.
Iranian Vice President and atomic chief Ali Akbar
Salehi said at the time that the plan to build the new plants
was a response to the IAEA decision.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, December 09, 2009, 18:46