Iran Has Begun Large-scale Uranium Conversion Activities

VIENNA (AFP) - Iran has begun converting a large amount of uranium mineral into the feedstock for enriching uranium -- a necessary stage in the nuclear fuel cycle -- a senior Iranian official told reporters.
"Some of the amount of 37 tons has been used. Tests have been successful," Iranian atomic energy chief Reza Aghazadeh said Tuesday.
He was referring to 37 tons of uranium yellowcake which Iran had previously said it would be converting into the uranium gas that is fed into centrifuges to make enriched uranium.
The UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called on Iran to suspend all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, including conversion activities.
But Aghazadeh, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an IAEA general conference, said Iran did not recognize the validity of this IAEA demand, since uranium enrichment is allowed under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), whose safeguard rules the IAEA monitors.