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Iran TV: Higher Uranium Enrichment Process Started

   VOA News 09 February 2010

   Iran  says  it  has begun enriching uranium to a higher level, defying
   international efforts to curb its nuclear activity.
   Iranian state television quoted officials who said the process started
   Tuesday  at  Iran's  Natanz  facility in the presence of International
   Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.
   Iran told the IAEA Monday of its plans to enrich uranium to 20 percent
   in order to fuel a medical nuclear reactor.
   Western powers are concerned that if Iran is able to enrich uranium to
   20  percent, it could eventually produce weapons-grade uranium through
   the same process.
   Iran insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.
   The  U.N.  Security  Council  has  imposed  three  rounds of sanctions
   against Iran for its failure to halt uranium enrichment.
   A  U.S.  Defense  Department  spokesman said Tuesday the United States
   wants a fourth round of sanctions passed "within weeks, not months."
   In  Paris  Monday,  U.S.  Defense  Secretary  Robert  Gates and French
   President   Nicolas  Sarkozy  said  they  will  push  for  strong  new
   sanctions.
   U.S.  officials  said  they hope to bring a resolution to the Security
   Council this month, while France holds the rotating presidency.
   The  U.N. had brokered a deal with a group of world powers that called
   for  Tehran  to  ship  its  uranium  abroad for enrichment and have it
   returned  as reactor fuel.  But Iran had given mixed signals about its
   willingness to accept the deal.
   A  Chinese  Foreign  Ministry spokesman Tuesday called for the parties
   involved  in  the  negotiations  to  continue  work  towards finding a
   solution.
   China has been opposed to setting additional sanctions against Iran.
   Some information for this report provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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