In defiance of the international community, the Iranian Cabinet headed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to begin construction of five uranium enrichment sites and propose five other sites for future construction within two months. The head of the nuclear body, Iranian Vice-President Ali Akbar Salehi, told state media that Tehran had had no intention of building the new nuclear facilities until it was rebuked by the Board of Directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency last week over its nuclear activities.
Currently, Iran has only one industrial enrichment plant in operation, near the town of Natanz. It is building a second site near the city of Qom, which was kept secret until September. "We had no intention of building many facilities like the Natanz site, but apparently the West doesn't want to understand Iran's peaceful message," Salehi said, adding that the IAEA resolution, sponsored by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, had left no option for Iran but to give a firm response.
Iran aims to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear power plants in the next 20 years. Iranian officials claim the new enrichment facilities are needed to produce enough fuel for its future nuclear power plants. Ahmadinejad told his Cabinet that Iran would need to install 500,000 centrifuges at the planned facilities to produce between 250 to 300 tons of nuclear fuel annually.
