Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his country has produced its first batch of uranium enriched to 20%.
[...] Western powers fear Iran is heading towards enriching uranium to 90% - to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Previously, Iran had enriched uranium to 3.5%, which is sufficient for power needs. 20% is necessary, they claim, for medical isotope purposes, which costs them the grand total of $1 million dollars a year.
Interesting, the facility most likely to have been used to create the enriched uranium was provided to Iran by the United States back in 1967 under the "Atoms For Peace" program.
Isn't it ironic, dontcha think?
Previously, Iran had promised a stunning "punch" to the West. This was more like a feint. Few take the claim very seriously, except of course the fainting-couch denizens.
Scroll down to the comments, if you'd like a good laugh. Or cry. Or laughiecry....
Meanwhile, the truly distressing development in Iran is the government response to the current wave of protests from dissidents. They have been lining the streets with militiamen, which has kept violence to a minimum.
But there has been violence.
Curious thing about Iran: for a dictatorial nation, they do seem to be fairly liberal in their policies with respect to dissent. Not as tolerant as the average Western nation, to be sure, but considering what Saddam Hussein used to do, it speaks volumes.
The Obama administration response has been measured, and if anything, has faulted to the side of caution.
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