美國稱伊朗宣佈核技術進展言過其實

The United States has downplayed Iran's claims of advances in its nuclear program, saying Tehran is feeling the pressure of international sanctions and wants to distract from its growing diplomatic isolation. Iran said Wednesday it had installed a new generation of centrifuges to enrich uranium, and for the first time loaded domestically produced nuclear fuel into Tehran's research reactor. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland dismissed the announcements as "hype." Israel and Western powers suspect Iran is trying to speed up enrichment of uranium to the higher purity to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its enrichment activities are aimed at producing fuel for power plants and medical research. Nuland says Iran must show its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

Iran hailed the advances as a step toward mastering the complete nuclear fuel cycle, despite U.N. and Western sanctions aimed at stopping the process. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Iran is making "defiant" statements because its leadership and economy are under "enormous pressure" from sanctions. Israel and its chief ally the United States refuse to rule out military action to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Israel sees an Iranian atomic bomb as a threat to its existence.美國低調處理伊朗有關其核項目取得進展的說法，表示德黑蘭感到了國際制裁的壓力，企圖轉移人們對伊朗日益嚴重的外交孤立的關注。伊朗星期三表示，伊朗安裝了用於鈾濃縮的新一代離心機，並在德黑蘭的研究反應堆中首次安裝了國產核燃料棒。美國國務院發言人紐蘭把伊朗宣佈的消息斥之爲“炒作”。以色列和西方國家懷疑，伊朗試圖加快進行高純度鈾濃縮來製造核武器。伊朗說，濃縮鈾是爲了給核電站生產燃料以及用於醫學研究。紐蘭說，伊朗必須證明其核項目是用於民事目的。

伊朗歡呼這些成就是向掌握完整的核燃料循環工序邁進了一步，而聯合國和西方國家希望藉助制裁措施阻止這一進程。白宮發言人卡尼說，伊朗的宣告充滿“挑釁”，是因爲伊朗領導層和經濟都受到制裁帶來的“巨大壓力”。以色列及其主要盟友美國拒絕排除採用軍事行動阻止伊朗製造核武器的可能性。以色列認爲伊朗擁有原子彈危及以色列的生存。