In a speech last night, Iranian Atomic Energy Organization head Reza Aghazadeh stressed Iran's progress towards nuclearization despite pressure from the West, described the progress under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and stated that Iran's current struggle to nuclearize was like other momentous events in Iran's history, such as the Islamic Revolution.

Aghazadeh told his audience that Iran had the ninth-highest number of UCF facilities in the world, and that with regard to the capacity of these facilities, Iran held eighth place worldwide. He noted that since President Ahmadinejad took office the country had produced some 270 tons of UF6.

Aghazadeh added that at Natanz nuclear facility, the work was taking place 25 meters underground, in halls double the size of a soccer field. He said that while the West hadn't wanted Iran to have a single power plant, it was now was willing to give it the most advanced power plants if it would only freeze the nuclear activity at Natanz.

He added that, like at the time of the victory of the Islamic revolution, if Iran was "active in this matter, generations to come will remember it favorably, but if we are passive, the generations to come will not forgive us."

Also during his speech, Aghazadeh noted that “in order to derive uranium sources from the Saghand-e Yazd region, pits eight meters in diameter and 300 meters deep were dug. [The digging] for 300 meters required [the use of] advanced facilities and means, that benefit from very high-level technology.”

Source: ISNA, Iran, March 7, 2007; Jomhouri-e Eslami, Iran, March 8, 2007