RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Mark Fitzpatrick from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London is a former Deputy US Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
MARK FITZPATRICK: I don't think there's a lot of industrial-level production actually going on. And whether these centrifuges are operating continuously, that's a key thing, because if they're not operating continuously, it means that they're having some kind of technical problems and that's been the case until now.
But I suspect that they are not as far along as they had said they would be, and as they would like the world to believe that they are.
The World Today - Tuesday, 10 April , 2007 13:25:00
Reporter: Rafael Epstein
ELEANOR HALL: And staying overseas, the announcement by Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that his country has now begun industrial-scale enrichment of uranium has provoked an angry response from the international community, with the United States saying it will mean tougher sanctions.
The United Nations has already authorised two packages of sanctions against Iran in an attempt to force the Tehran regime to suspend its enrichment program, which the West says is a step toward a nuclear-armed Iran.
But the Iranian regime has warned the United Nations not to stand in the way of a program it insists is for purely peaceful purposes.
And other Iranian officials are once again talking about pulling Iran out of the international Non-Proliferation Treaty if the pressure from the West continues.
This report from Correspondent Rafael Epstein.
(Sound of Iranian TV music)
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Iranian TV made sure everyone knew today was National Nuclear Technology Day. State-run buses and trains were free, and bells at Iranian schools rang out in unison at 9am local time.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad invited journalists and diplomats to Natanz in central Iran.
(Sound of Iranian song)
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: The President could be seen weeping during a song at a ceremony about his country's nuclear program. And he said he's proud.
(Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking)
TRANSLATOR: Now we've achieved industrial technology. I'm very proud to say that, from today, Iran has started mass production of the centrifuge needed for uranium enrichment for industrial purposes.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Iran seems to be good at salami slicing its way toward confrontation with the West.
Natanz has around 350 experimental or scientific centrifuges in the above-ground facility.
Western intelligence agencies believe there could soon be as many as 5000 centrifuges buried beneath the surface at the same facility. If that is the case and they can be made to work continuously, they could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to make a couple of weapons each year.
(Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking)
TRANSLATOR: The Iranian nation has so far behaved based on the rules and regulations, and has gone on a peaceful path and is still keen to continue in the same way. We warn them not to take measures that make us revise our behaviour.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Mark Fitzpatrick from the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London is a former Deputy US Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
MARK FITZPATRICK: I don't think there's a lot of industrial-level production actually going on. And whether these centrifuges are operating continuously, that's a key thing, because if they're not operating continuously, it means that they're having some kind of technical problems and that's been the case until now.
But I suspect that they are not as far along as they had said they would be, and as they would like the world to believe that they are.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Uranium enrichment can produce nuclear fuel but in highly extended form can also make the fissile core for an atomic weapon.
MARK FITZPATRICK: It's the same technology, and whether you can produce fuel for the reactor or, or enriched uranium for a bomb is just a matter of having additional centrifuges or running the gasified uranium through the centrifuges more times.
RAFAEL EPSTEIN: Four years ago, a leaked report from international monitors said weapons-grade uranium had been found in samples taken from Natanz. Iran blamed contaminated imported equipment, a claim that was later confirmed by an independent report.
