Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday during a visit to the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz that Iran had started industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel.
"I regret yesterday's statements - they are a bad signal. I once again call on Iran to observe UN Security Council resolutions," Philippe Douste-Blazy said.
Since Iran resumed uranium enrichment in January 2006, the country has been the focus of international concerns, as some Western countries, particularly the U.S., suspect Tehran is pursuing a covert weapons program. But Tehran has consistently claimed it needs nuclear power for civilian power generation and is fully entitled to its own nuclear program.
Douste-Blazy called on Iran to begin a dialogue with the six mediating countries.
A spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry said he doubts the authenticity of information about industrial-scale enrichment.
"Statements made by the Iranian side arouse considerable doubts. There are Iran's statements, and there is technological reality," Jean-Baptiste Mattei said, adding, however, that "the statements themselves are a bad signal."
A year ago, Iranian officially declared that their nuclear experts had succeeded in enriching uranium to 3.5%, meaning that they produced low-enriched uranium required for nuclear power plant fuel. A month later, Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh said they had enriched uranium to 4.8%.
On February 11, Ahmadinejad promised Tehran would announce "great and unprecedented successes" in the nuclear sphere by April 9.
An expert with the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Nuclear Reactors said Monday that the Iranian president's statement that his country had achieved industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel was very doubtful.
"On the one hand, Iran is capable of enriching some quantity of uranium to 4.5%, but on the other, it is practically impossible to speak of industrial-scale enrichment, as it requires the necessary power capabilities."
As for the launch of 3,000 centrifuges at the underground nuclear center in Natanz, he said, "They [the Iranians] could actually have made centrifuges, but not of very good quality."
The UN Security Council voted unanimously March 24 to impose new sanctions against the Islamic Republic for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
The new UN Security Council resolution was passed following Tehran's refusal to comply with the previous resolution adopted December 23, 2006.
The new resolution freezes the foreign accounts of 13 companies and 15 individuals involved in uranium enrichment and missile development projects, imposes visa restrictions and bans arms exports from Iran. It also threatens new sanctions if Iran does not comply with the resolution within 60 days, and urges the Islamic Republic to return to negotiations.
