Ahmadinejad boasts of Iran's nuclear gear

BIRJAND, Iran, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reasserted the country's right to a nuclear program Wednesday, including uranium enrichment devices.

Western experts said that if the president's claims of 3,000 centrifuges are true, the country could produce enough enriched uranium in a year for a nuclear warhead, The Times of London reported.

Speaking at a stadium in the northeastern city of Birjand, the president repeated a Sept. 2 statement that rankled Western countries concerned Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.

"Iran has currently 3,000 enrichment centrifuges thanks to its firm resistance," Iranian Press TV quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

Last December, the U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on Tehran, demanding it cease uranium enrichment with the centrifuges but Iran has resisted.

"The Iranian nation attaches no value to the U.N. Security Council's resolutions which are based on false reports and will not implement them," Ahmadinejad told the cheering crowd.

He went on to say the country had been fully transparent with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the state-run IRNA news agency said.

"Iran has answered all the questions raised by the IAEA and the agency has announced that Iran's answers were all correct," he said. "It has also announced that there had been no deviation in Iran's peaceful nuclear activities."