Ahmadinejad: Iran now has the ability to produce nuclear fuel

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Iran now controls the entire cycle for producing nuclear fuel with the opening of a new facility to produce uranium pellets.

Ahmadinejad has announced several times in the past that Iran has the knowledge necessary to enrich uranium ore into fuel pellets, but with the opening of the new facility, the Islamic republic says it now has the capability.

Speaking on Iranian state television, Ahmadinejad said the next step for Iran is to achieve proficiency in building nuclear power plants without help from foreign countries.

The U.S. and some of its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran has denied the charges, saying its nuclear program is merely geared towards power generation.

The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel published a wide-ranging interview on Saturday with Ahmadinejad, in which the president of the Islamic Republic said U.S. President Barack Obama's overtures to Iran show a "lack of something decisive" and should be followed by action.

"Great things are happening in the United States," the Iranian leader told Der Spiegel. "I believe that the Americans are in the process of initiating important developments."

When it was suggested that the president's moderate tone towards Iran represents a possible turning point in American-Iranian relations, Ahmadinejad expressed cautious reservation.

"I haven't understood Obama's comments quite that way," Ahmadinejad told Der Spiegel. "I pay attention to what he says today. But that is precisely where I see a lack of something decisive. What leads you to talk about a new beginning? Have there been any changes in American policy? We welcome changes, but they have yet to occur."

In commenting on Washington's readiness to enter talks with Tehran over its nuclear program, Ahmadinejad told Der Spiegel that the ball is in the U.s. court.

"We support talks on the basis of fairness and respect," he said. "That has always been our position. We are waiting for Obama to announce his plans, so that we can analyze them."

"Fundamental changes must take place, to the benefit of all parties. The American government must finally learn lessons from the past."

The Iranian president repeated his attacks against Israel's legitimacy in claiming that the Palestinians bore the brunt of the consequences of World War II and the Holocaust.

"Why did the Germans cause so much trouble back then, allowing these problems to arise in the first place?" Ahmadinejad said. "The Zionist regime is the result of World War II. What does any of this have to do with the Palestinian people? Or with the Middle East region? I believe that we must get to the root of the problem. If one doesn't consider the causes, there can be no solution."

The Iranian leader said his country is not alone in its opposition to Israel's presence in the Middle East.

"Do you believe that the German people support the Zionist regime? Do you believe that a referendum could be held in Germany on this question? If you did allow such a referendum to take place, you would discover that the German people hate the Zionist regime."

"I do not believe that the European countries would have been as indulgent if only one-hundredth of the crimes that the Zionist regime has committed in Gaza had happened somewhere in Europe. Why on earth do the European governments support this regime?" the Iranian leader remarked.

In the interview with Der Spiegel, the Iranian leader denied suspicions Tehran is working towards building nuclear weapons. Instead, he intimated that Israel's possession of nuclear weapons should be the primary source of concern in the region.

"We have no interest in building a nuclear weapon," Ahmadinejad said. "We have sent the IAEA thousands of pages of reports and made thousands of hours of inspections possible. The IAEA cameras monitor our activities. Who is dangerous, and whom should the inspectors distrust? Those who secretly built the bomb, or us, who are cooperating with the IAEA?"