UN urged to tackle Iran on nuclear programme

THE Pentagon said yesterday that the US wanted a UN Security Council resolution “within weeks” to tackle Iran’s nuclear programme as Iran said it had begun making higher-grade nuclear fuel.

The Islamic Republic, which denies its programme has military aims, defied the international community by announcing on Sunday that it would enrich uranium to 20% purity for a Tehran reactor making medical isotopes for cancer patients.

As tensions with the West rose and Russia indicated it could back fresh UN sanctions, members of an Islamic militia threw stones at the Italian embassy in Tehran.