TEHRAN - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Thursday that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) had succeeded to produce a first batch of nuclear fuel enriched to 20 percent.

“I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first consignment of 20 percent enriched uranium was produced and was put at the disposal of the scientists,” Ahmadinejad told hundreds of thousand of people who had gathered in Azadi Square (Freedom Square) to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
Iran decided to produce nuclear fuel to a level of 20 percent after the West and the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency failed to provide 20 percent enriched fuel to run Tehran’s research reactor that produces medical isotopes.
About 850,000 patients in Iran are in need of medical isotopes.
Iran began the process of enriching uranium to the needed level at the Natanz enrichment facility on Tuesday in the presence of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran had no intention of building nuclear weapons.
As a signatory to the NPT, Iran has right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.
“We have the capability to enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent but we don’t enrich because we don’t need it,” he noted.
“When we say we do not manufacture the bomb, we mean it, and we do not believe in manufacturing a bomb,” he insisted.
Iran ready to buy nuclear fuel from U.S
Ahmadinejad went on to say that Iran is ready to buy 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel from the U.S. if Washington is willing to do so.
“They (the Western countries) say that the U.S. is ready to help Iran to produce 20 percent fuel, we also agree and even if the U.S. wants to sell us the fuel we will buy it,” Ahmadinejad told the huge crowd.
The president added there is no problem that Iran sends its 3.5 percent enriched uranium abroad but the West must provide 20 percent enriched uranium fuel to Tehran’s research reactor that produces medical isotopes.
If the West wants Iran to send abroad its 3.5 percent enriched uranium, there will not be any problem, he said, but added that they must provide Tehran with 20 percent enriched uranium fuel.
“If we were the West, we would put our words into practice sincerely and would provide 20 percent fuel to Iran, but they (the West) do not obey the rule they themselves set,” he stated.
The president also said that all Iran’s nuclear activities are under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency and no country can make nuclear bombs under the supervision of the IAEA