Iran's Latest Nuclear Moves Raise Hackles

Iran began installation today of 6,000 high-capacity centrifuges at its Natanz uranium-enrichment facility, Reuters reports. To the chagrin of Western powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad marked Iran’s “National Day of Nuclear Technology” with the announcement. The US said Iran’s move showed it was determined to disobey the UN Security Council on enrichment; France said tougher sanctions might be necessary.

"They imagined that by imposing political pressure and sanctions, Iran's economy will fall apart,” Ahmadinejad said, “but we saw that this did not happen." Experts say 1,500 of the centrifuges would be sufficient to produce enough uranium for one nuclear warhead. The Security Council will decide this month whether or not to enhance economic incentives offered to Iran for halting nuclear development. (More Iran stories.)