Iran says it's ready for standoff over nuclear activities

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Thursday, January 18, 2007

Iran's nuclear program

Recent stories

• 19 October 2009: Iran uranium talks "off to a good start"
• 6 July 2008: Iran says its nuclear program is unchanged
• 4 July 2008: Pakistani scientist says government knew about nuclear shipment to North Korea
• 17 June 2008: Bush, Brown threaten further sanctions against Iran

External and Inter-wiki links

• Wikipedia article about Iran's nuclear program
• Wikipedia article about Iran and WMDs

Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that his country is prepared to have a standoff with the United States.

The move comes as the U.S. decided to send another aircraft carrier to the Middle East.

According to the U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the USS Stennis was dispatched to the region to "impress on Iran that the four-year war in Iraq has not made America vulnerable."

In response to the deployment of additional troops, Ahmadinejad said that Iran was prepared for any possibility in the standoff with the West over its nuclear activities.

"Today, with the grace of God, we have gone through the arduous passes and we are ready for anything in this path. Their aim is to frighten Iran and weaken the resistance of the Iranian nation but they will not succeed," stated Ahmadinejad.

Iran has stated that its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes, but the United Nations disagrees and imposed limited sanctions on the nation last year.

"Unfortunately, some inside the country try to fabricate news and portray a bad image of the great achievement of the Iranian nation [...] prescribe compromise, repeat the words of the enemy. Of course, this will have no effect," added Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad's announcement comes as Iran announces that the country is prepared to begin the installation of nearly 3,000 centrifuges at its nuclear facility, the Natanz uranium-enrichment complex.

According to an unknown European diplomat, "everything has been prepared for assembling [and installing] the centrifuges at Natanz for the beginning of the industrial phase of enrichment. The hardware is now in place."

Ahmadinejad also said that enrichment of uranium will begin at the Natanz facility "very soon" and "bit by bit."

Sources

• Mark Heinrich "Iran set to begin installing 3,000 centrifuges". Reuters, January 18, 2007
• Ali Akbar Dareini "Iran Warns It's Ready for Nuke Standoff". Guardian Unlimited, January 18, 2007
  

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