TEHRAN — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday ordered Iran to “go build” four more nuclear research reactors in addition to the sole one operating in Tehran.
His remarks on state television came shortly after he led a ceremony in which Iran’s first domestically produced fuel was loaded into a research reactor in Tehran.
It also followed the Iranian government’s denial of a report by state television that Tehran had cut its oil exports to six European nations — a report that briefly lifted European oil prices to a six-month high.
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In his televised speech, Ahmadinejad said, “It has been estimated that four nuclear reactors in four different spots in the country are needed. Go build them to carry out research activities and provide radio-medicine needed by the country.”
Iran is currently building another research reactor, a heavy-water facility in the central city of Arak designed to be more powerful than the aging Tehran research facility built in 1967 by the US, AFP reported.
It also has projects to construct 20 reactors to produce electricity.
The domestically produced fuel loading was hailed as a technical achievement in Iran, showing that the Islamic Republic had mastered all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle despite tough Western and UN sanctions, AFP reported.
Ahmadinejad was seen alongside other officials and scientists, all dressed in white lab coats, watching as a metal-encased rod was inserted into the deep, blue pool.
The broadcast then cut to file images of Iranian nuclear scientists who were murdered by unknown motorcycle assailants in Tehran over the past two years, AFP reported.
Earlier, state TV said that Iran developed “fourth generation centrifuges” made of carbon fiber that are “speedier, produce less waste and occupy less space” as they spin at supersonic speeds to purify uranium.
Iran’s defiant tone was likely to stoke fresh concerns over its atomic activities. Western powers believe Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Meanwhile, there was some confusion Wednesday about Iran’s intentions regarding oil supplies to European countries.
The Iranian broadcaster Press TV said on its website, “In response to the latest sanctions imposed by the EU against Iran’s energy and banking sectors, the Islamic Republic has cut oil exports to six European countries.”
It named France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece as targets.
But later Wednesday, an Iranian oil ministry spokesman and an Iranian diplomat in charge of Western Europe denied the Press TV report to separate news agencies. Iranian oil officials and an Iranian diplomat in one of the six countries told Dow Jones Newswires they had not received any such official notification.
“If there had been a decision, we would have been aware,” the diplomat said.