Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced on Tuesday that his country had successfully enriched uranium. Iran "has joined the club of nuclear nations," he proudly told Iranians. Enriched uranium is a key ingredient of nuclear weapons. Iran insists it wants the uranium for the peaceful purpose of generating electricity.
Experts say the amount of uranium that Iran claims to have enriched is not enough to build a nuclear bomb. Iran appears to be many years away from that capability.
World leaders were critical of Iran's plans. "This is not a question of Iran's right to civil nuclear power," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. "The world does not believe that Iran should have the technology that could lead to a nuclear weapon."
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, arrived in Iran's capital, Tehran, for talks on Thursday. The U.N. Security Council wants Iran to stop all enrichment activity by April 28.