UN Secretary General wants Iran to prove the peaceful character of its atomic program

Iran "must prove" that its nuclear energy program has no military components, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has told the BBC, reports Russia 24. His current position has hardened in the framework of that presently being taken by the permanent members of the UN Security Council in consultations on new, tougher sanctions being applied to Iran.

The BBC cites western secret service sources, saying that Iran is continuing to experience significant technical problems in the uranium enrichment process, due to the low quality of fuel and the instability of the gas centrifuges. Doubts were also expressed in London that the presentation of a third generation IP-4 centrifuge next Friday by the Iranian President can resolve all the present technical difficulties, ITAR-TASS reports.

Iran has created third generation uranium centrifuges. The head of the Iranian atomic energy agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, announced that they have already been successfully tested, and are due to be brought into service next March. Iranian sources say that the new 200 millimeter centrifuges are significantly more powerful than the first-generation ones at the "Natanz" nuclear station, and the second generation ones which came into operation a year ago.