Natanz

Iran announced a dramatic expansion of uranium enrichment on Monday, saying it has begun operating 3 000 centrifuges — nearly 10 times the previously known number — in defiance of United Nations demands it halt the programme or face increased sanctions. Experts say 3 000 centrifuges are in theory enough to produce a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was set to irk Western powers again on Monday by announcing a stride forward in his country’s atomic drive as it marked the first Iranian national day of nuclear technology. Ahmadinejad was to make a keynote speech at about noon at the country’s most sensitive nuclear site in Natanz.