Iran's atomic energy chief said today the country had started an ambitious nuclear energy programme and was poised to begin processing uranium, which some Western experts fear could lead to building a nuclear bomb.
A uranium ore processing plant should come on line soon in the central city of Isfahan and preliminary work had begun on a uranium enrichment plant, said Mr Gholamreza Aqazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation.
Iran, a signatory to nuclear non-proliferation pacts, insists its programme is purely peaceful and has invited UN inspectors to verify its nuclear facilities later this month.
But the United States has labelled the Islamic Republic part of an "axis of evil" and accused it of harbouring secret plans to develop nuclear weapons. Enriched uranium is a potential bomb-building ingredient.
Iran's first operational reactor is being built with Russia in the southern port of Bushehr and is due to come on stream by early 2004.
Iran has said it is studying the feasibility of building several more reactors to meet the booming electricity demand of its 65 million people.
Yesterday, President Mohammad Khatami said Iran possessed uranium ore reserves and had begun mining operations in the Savand area, 125 miles from the central city of Yazd.
Despite Iran's insistence that it has purely peaceful objectives for its nuclear programme, analysts remain sceptical.
Last November, US officials claimed that sites at Natanzand the town of Arak, seen in commercial satellite photographs,were of a type which suggested Iran could use them to build anuclear weapon.Iran dismissed those accusations and the IAEA said it wasaware of the facilities and planned to inspect them in February.IAEA chief Mr Mohamed ElBaradei, who is due to visit Iran onFebruary 25th, said Iran had assured the IAEA itsnuclear plans were peaceful.Mr ElBaradei reiterated it would be "quite helpful" for Iran tojoin the so-called Additional Protocol, an agreement that wouldgive the UN greater powers to inspect its nuclear facilities.