Iran’s president gives green light to uranium enrichment

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has instructed his country's atomic agency on Sunday to start enriching uranium to 20%, reports Russian news agency Itar-Tass, citing Iranian television.

According to a framework agreement worked out by the IAEA last October, the IAEA suggested to the Islamic Republic that it should export 1.2 tons of its low-grade uranium to Russia for enrichment and for subsequent production of nuclear fuel in France.

Producing enriched uranium is the international community's core concern over Iran's nuclear program, since it can be used to make nuclear weapons. Iran continues to claim its program is for peaceful purposes only.