Iran: We're Enriching Uranium Underground

Another day, another claim of nuclear advances from Iran: Just a week after saying it had produced its first nuclear fuel rod, Iran is now claiming via a semi-official newspaper that it has started enriching uranium at an underground site protected from possible airstrikes. The Kayhan daily says it has "received reports yesterday that shows Iran has begun uranium enrichment at the Fordo facility amid heightened foreign enemy threats."

Iran's nuclear chief countered that the program will begin "soon," and the AP can't reconcile the conflicting reports. Iran is known to have a major uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, in central Iran, with nearly 8,000 centrifuges, operating since 2006. The centrifuges in Fordo, built next to a military complex, are reported to be more efficient and shielded from air attacks. (More Iran stories.)