Setback
But Iran's announcement is also a blow to IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who was due to arrive in Tehran yesterday in a fresh bid to resolve tensions.
ElBaradei has said "the jury is still out" over the nature of Iran's program and is trying to press Iran to agree to a fuel cycle moratorium while his investigation continues.
According to Iranian vice president and atomic energy chief Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the milestone in Iran's program was crossed on Monday -- at a pilot plant of 164 centrifuges in Natanz -- with the uranium enriched to 3.5 percent, or the purity required for civilian reactor fuel.
This, he asserted, "paves the way for enrichment on an industrial scale" using an enormous 110 tonnes of UF6 feedstock gas already produced.
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