Iran Goes Nuclear

April 11, 2006
Foxnews (Associated Press contributing)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday Iran had successfully enriched uranium for the first time, but insisted that his country does not aim to develop nuclear weapons.

"I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear technology," Ahmadinejad said in a televised address from the northeastern city of Mashhad.

The crowd that included top military commanders and clerics broke into cheers of "Allahu akbar!" or "God is great!" many times during the speech. Some stood and thrust their fists in the air.

"Our nation does not get its strength from nuclear arsenals," Ahmadinejad said, adding that the West must respect Iran's right to peaceful atomic technology.

Ahmadinejad said Iran sought to operate its nuclear program within its rights under the regulations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

He called on the West "not to cause an everlasting hatred in the hearts of Iranians" by trying to force Iran to abandon uranium enrichment.

"At this historic moment, with the blessings of God almighty and the efforts made by our scientists, I declare here that the laboratory-scale nuclear fuel cycle has been completed and young scientists produced enriched uranium needed to the degree for nuclear power plants Sunday," Ahmadinejad said.

The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran stop all uranium enrichment activity by April 28. Iran has rejected the demand, saying it has a right to develop the process. The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, is due in Iran this week for talks to try to resolve the standoff.

The White House denounced the latest comments from Iranian officials, with spokesman Scott McClellan saying they "continue to show that Iran is moving in the wrong direction."