By Xinhua
Tehran : Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that his country has already installed 3,000 centrifuges for the uranium enrichment work in defiance of a key UN demand of suspending it.
“Iran now has 3,000 centrifuges,” Ahmadinejad said while addressing a large crowd in Iran’s northeastern city of Birjand.
This is the second time in two months that Ahmadinejad has mentioned the current number of Iran’s centrifuges.
He told some university students Oct 2 that Iran was already a nuclear country and had 3,000 machines in circulation.
Defying the UN sanctions resolutions against Tehran’s nuclear programme, the president told the rally “Iran will not believe these resolutions, they are based on false reports.”
“They must know that Iranians don’t care about the sanctions, and Iranian people will not back one inch from their nuclear rights,” he added.
The UN Security Council has imposed two sanctions resolutions against Tehran’s nuclear programme since last December, demanding a halt of the uranium enrichment. However, Iran’s senior officials have repeatedly denied the request.
The US and Western countries have accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons under a civilian cover, but Tehran said it only intends to generate electricity.
The White House has never ruled out the possibility of a military attack against Tehran’s nuclear facilities, and warned that Iran’s nuclear programme could lead to a ‘third world war’.
In late October, Washington imposed new sanctions against the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, drawing condemnation from Iran’s senior military commanders who vowed to fight back any aggression.