BAKU, May 5 (RIA Novosti) - Iran will seek to enrich uranium to industrial level, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday.
The president said in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, that his country was interested in continuing activities in the nuclear sphere in line with international principles and laws and under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency until it achieved industrial-level nuclear fuel production for its nuclear power plants.
Iran's controversial nuclear programs have been at the center of a storm since the start of the year with many countries suspecting the Islamic state of pursuing a secret weapons program, though Ahmadinejad again rejected the claims.
"I wish to reiterate once again that our nuclear programs are solely for peaceful purposes," he said.
The president also hailed his country's success in April in enriching uranium.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran regards this achievement as an accomplishment not only for itself, but for the entire region and the Islamic world. We believe this accomplishment will lead up to greater progress in advanced sciences and technologies for the Islamic countries," Ahmadinejad said.
The UN Security Council is currently considering a resolution drafted by the United States, Britain and France that could see economic sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic for its failure to cooperate fully and openly with the UN's nuclear watchdog.
Iran's vice president and head of the Atomic Energy Organization Gholamreza Aghazadeh said Tuesday that Iran had enriched uranium-235 to 4.8%. He said Iran was not planning to enrich uranium to more than 5%, as this level was enough to produce nuclear fuel for a power station.
