Iran proudly announced their use of locally obtained uranium ore as the much sought-after material in their quest to obtain uranium. They consider it as a large milestone in their atomic program as well as an act of defiance against international deliberations on Iran’s suspected nuclear projects. Nuclear experts say that Iran’s announcement seemed more like a display of political will instead of a substantive scientific achievement in the field of nuclear energy. It also signals a threat that the nation may be able to source its own nuclear material for either energy requirements or nuclear arms.
On another note, Iran’s success in processing locally mined uranium ore from a domestic source also highlights the country’s capability to surpass sanctions being implemented by the United Nations which ban their importation of raw uranium. It also proves Iran’s determination in pursuing nuclear capabilities despite their recent failures on processing uranium ore. The country also suffered setbacks in the form of economic limitations set put by the United Nations, bombing cases which harmed two Iranian nuclear scientists, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s acknowledgement that a few of their uranium purification centrifuges were indeed sabotaged by a malicious software by hackers over the Internet.
Meanwhile, the White House says that Iran’s announcement didn’t come as a surprise, but it did fuel more doubts as to Iran’s real intentions for enriching uranium in the country. Iran’s nuclear program head, Ali Akbar Salehi, says they had indeed achieved proper production of uranium concentrates, aptly naming it “yellowcake”, as an early ingredient in the uranium enrichment recipe.