The report said Iran was expanding into industrial-scale production
|
Iran has ignored the latest UN deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, a report by nuclear watchdog the IAEA has said.
The report, written by agency head Mohamed ElBaradei, said Iran had not only failed to stop enrichment but was expanding it.
The refusal to observe the Wednesday deadline could lead to further UN sanctions against Iran.
The US described Iran's non-compliance as a "missed opportunity for the Iranian government and Iranian people".
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the UN Security Council should now consider fresh sanctions in addition to measures targeting its nuclear and missiles programmes imposed by the UN in December.
The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says senior US diplomats are now in contact with other members of the UN Security Council to try to ratchet up the pressure.
But Iranian nuclear official Mohammad Saeedi, quoted by Reuters news agency, said the demand to suspend enrichment of uranium had no legal basis and was against international treaties.
While enriched uranium is used as fuel for nuclear reactors, highly enriched uranium can also be used to make nuclear bombs.
Iran denies Western claims it is secretly trying to build nuclear arms, saying its nuclear programme is for purely peaceful, energy-producing purposes.
Cascades installed
The six-page IAEA report said there had been little progress in clearing up outstanding questions about Iran's past nuclear activities and urged the Iranians to be co-operative.
It said Iran had expanded from research-scale to industrial-scale production of enriched uranium.
We think that talks are the best way to get out of the impasse 
Iranian foreign minister
Two cascades of 164 centrifuges each had been installed at the enrichment facility in Natanz, with two more close to completion, it said.
A total of 3,000 centrifuges are expected to be installed in the coming months.
Iran was also building a heavy water reactor and heavy water production plant in defiance of the UN Security Council, the report said.
It added that Tehran had agreed to interim IAEA verification procedures but not to remote monitoring at the plant, the report said.
There would be a breach of non-proliferation safeguard rules once there were more than 500 centrifuges.
Earlier US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said fresh attempts would be made to get Iran to the negotiating table.
"We reconfirmed that we will use our available channels and the Security Council to try and achieve that goal," she said.
Iran's foreign minister said there was still time for a negotiated solution.
"We support negotiations for solving the problem and we think that talks are the best way to get out of the impasse while each party is stressing a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the issue," Manouchehr Mottaki said.
