Iran to speed up uranium procurement

Tehran declared on Tuesday it is installing next-generation centrifuges at its nuclear plants to speed up the uranium enrichment process. The French foreign ministry was quick to condemn this move as a “new provocation” in a statement released yesterday, fearing the Iranian nuclear programme is aimed at creating nuclear weapons, not civilian applications. Diplomatic efforts to find a solution to Iran’s nuclear dispute have stopped after talks between Tehran and six world powers broke down in December last year. “Iran must suspend its activities and create the conditions for reopening talks”, France said.