IRAN: President Mohammad Khatami said yesterday Iran had mined uranium for nuclear energy, and insisted its nuclear programme was solely for civilian use, the official news agency IRNA said.
The surprise announcement - the first time an Iranian leader has acknowledged possession of uranium ore reserves - may alarm Washington, which accuses the Islamic Republic of harbouring secret plans to develop nuclear weapons.
"Iran has discovered reserves and extracted uranium . . . we are determined to use nuclear technology for civilian purposes," IRNA quoted President Khatami as saying. He said the uranium had been extracted near the central city of Yazd and processing facilities had been set up in the central cities of Isfahan and Kashan.
Iran, which Washington has labelled a member of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and North Korea, insists its nuclear plans are purely for civilian purposes for its 65 million people.
It has invited inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), to verify its nuclear facilities later this month.
In another development, state television quoted Defence Minister Ali Shamkhani as saying Iran, for the first time, had developed the capacity to produce composite solid fuels for its missiles.
"This solid fuel could be used for any kind of missile," he said yesterday. Iran makes middle-range missiles, anti-tank missiles, air-to-surface missiles and surface-to-surface guided missiles that use composite solid fuel. - (Reuters)