Iran Has Up To 6,000 Uranium Centrifuges: Ahmadinejad

An official handout picture shows Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a visit to the Natanz uranium enrichment facilities some 300 kms, south of Tehran earlier this year. Iran now has between 5,000 and 6,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges, Ahmadinejad has said, confirming that the country has expanded its contested nuclear work.(AFP/HO/File/Ho)

From Yahoo News/AFP:

TEHRAN (AFP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that Iran has boosted the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges to up to 6,000, in an expansion of its nuclear drive that defies international calls for a freeze.

"Today they (the West) have agreed that the existing 5,000 to 6,000 centrifuges do not increase and that there is no problem if this number of centrifuges work," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state radio.

Ahmadinejad said in April that Iran was working to install 6,000 more centrifuges at an underground hall in a plant at its nuclear facility in Natanz, where it already had 3,000 running.

It is a major expansion of Iran's nuclear programme, which the West fears could be aimed at making atomic weapons.

Read more ....

More News On Iran

Iranian president says Iran has up to 6,000 centrifuges -- China View
Report: Ahmadinejad says Iran now possesses 6,000 centrifuges -- USA Today
Report: Iran now has 6,000 centrifuges -- Washington Times
US Warns Iran Time Running Out for Nuclear Deal -- Voice Of America
Iran ends cooperation with U.N. nuclear probe -- MSNBC
Iran shuts door to more UN questions -- Boston Globe
Spat over Iranian film on Sadat -- BBC News
Iran says oil could reach $500 on dollar, politics -- Reuters
Iran to get new Russian air defences by '09 -Israel -- Reuters
Iran plans mass execution: report -- Yahoo News/AP
Hizbullah convoy likely hit in Iran -- Jerusalem Post
Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bans newspaper reporting rift in leadership -- The Telegraph

My Comment: 30% inflation. Convoys being bombed in Tehran. Mass hangings. International sanctions. Electrical brownouts in Tehran itself. Internal political dissent. Yup .... Iran is in turmoil.

I have always argued that the nuclear issue has always been used by Iran to placate internal opposition. By playing on Persian nationalism, this would in the short term keep the population quiet.

It is not working anymore. Sanctions are going to hurt, and many of their allies in the Middle East are re-evaluating their relationship with Iran.

I say .... keep up the pressure.