Uranium enrichment at Fordo nuclear facility near the city of Qom, which is used for producing up to 20 percent enriched uranium faced with different reactions in the world.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated on Tuesday that Iran’s uranium enrichment at Fordo runs counter to its obligations made under multiple UN Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors resolutions.

But Iran’s permanent representative to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh said that all of the country’s nuclear activities, including those at Fordo, are under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog. He also added that the hype created by the West over the beginning of enrichment activities at Iran's Fordo nuclear site is “exaggerated” and “politically motivated.”

Responding Iran’s new uranium enrichment, Clinton urged Iran to "immediately" cease uranium enrichment and return to negotiations with the P5+1 with readiness to engage "seriously" on its nuclear program.

And, although IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said “all nuclear material in Fordo facility remains under the agency's containment and surveillance”, an IAEA official says, senior UN nuclear inspectors are expected to visit Iran "quite soon" to discuss their growing concerns about possible military aspects to the country's nuclear program.

Moreover, Europe and Japan moved ahead Tuesday in planning for punitive cuts in oil imports from Iran.

 

sources: xinhuanet, presstv, reuters