IAEA: Iran enriched uranium in secret location

Iran has stepped up his challenge to the international community to begin uranium enrichment up to about 20% of purity in Fordo fortified facility, 160 kilometers from Tehran.

This was confirmed yesterday by the international agency of Atomic Energy (IAEA), whose inspectors have verified the beginning of the production of enriched uranium in that plant, discovered in 2009 by the intelligence services Westerners.

In a brief statement issued in Vienna, the UN nuclear agency assured that "all nuclear material" in that facility is under his surveillance.

So far, Iran had purified uranium up to that level - considered a prelude to the highly enriched uranium for atomic bombs - only at its major plant in Natanz, where you intend to produce atomic way fuel industrial.

The Iranian regime claims that it needs this uranium (enriched in particular to the 19.75%) for the production of a u000afuel for a scientific reactor in Tehran, where are produced isotopes for the fight against cancer.

From the uranium enriched to 20% science speaks of "HEU", while uranium enriched above 90% is needed for an atomic bomb.

Enriching uranium up to 20%, however, means that the technical Iranians already dominate much of the route required to produce fissile material for purposes military.

20 And 4 percent
last Saturday, the head of the nuclear programme of Iran, Fereidun Abbasi Davan, reported the imminent launch of Fordo, where they have "capacity for uranium enrichment to 20% and 4 %", stated the Agency Mehr. In its most recent report on Iran, issued in November, IAEA indicated that Tehran announced the early commencement of production at Fordo, a facility designed to accommodate only 3,000 u000acentrifuges, against the 50,000 envisaged in Natanz, where uranium is enriched industrially up to 5% purity.

Fordo has become one of the foci of the Iran nuclear dispute, because to be located inside a mountain in the province of Qom is considered to be protected from possible aerial bombardment by United States or Israel.

The controversial facility, built by a secret, Iran came to light in September 2009 through the complaint that the American President Barack Obama.

Tehran said then that it had violated no international standard, that informed the IAEA four days before the indictment of the American representative, despite the fact that it had begun its construction many months before.

The tension around Fordo occurs in the midst of the recent threats to Iran block the Strait of Hormuz, which would have serious implications for trade u000aWorld of oil, given that more than one-third of the "black gold" passes through this strategic place on their way to international markets.

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A strategic alliance
Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, Presidents Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was yesterday pledged friendship "forever" and reaffirmed his Alliance to "stop the imperialist madness" on the first day of a tour of the Iranian leader by Latin America. Received with military honors, Ahmadinejad, which Chávez embraced and called "true brother", he said that you despite "arrogant" will continue with his Venezuelan colleague "forever", while the host President reaffirmed the role that they have had to brake to imperialism. "That's one of our tasks, we do not want that this task would have touched us, but we have had, curb, curb, curb the imperialist madness now has broken out as never before ever in a long time", u000aChavez said in his welcome message from the Iranian leader.

Moreover, Ahmadinejad made a statement noting that "despite the..." "arrogant that they do not want us to be together, we will be together forever". The Iranian ruler called Chávez's "brother" and "the symbol of the revolution in Latin America". "Today the Venezuelan people and the Iranian people, the two together, are on a path of struggle against the greed of the arrogant imperialism." "Hegemonic and dominant system is in decline, with which they have taken a much more aggressive face, they have trampled on all human values".

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