TEHRAN : New Uranium Units Not to Confront IAEA: President Ahmadinejad, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that Iran’s plan to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants was not aimed at confronting the UN atomic watchdog, which censured Tehran last month.

He also said Iran will continue to build the new plants, adding that sites for five of the 10 units had been finalised.

“The news that we announced (about the new plants) was not to confront the board of the agency, as we had assigned the (Iranian) atomic energy organisation to locate several sites (for the new plants) months ago,” the state television website quoted him as saying.

“We recently even asked them (Iran’s atomic agency) about the delay” in identifying the sites, Ahmadinejad said, adding that Iran has always “acted on its decisions, which are definite.”

Soon after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemned Iran for building its second uranium enrichment plant late last month, Ahmadinejad announced his government’s decision to build 10 new plants.

Iranian Vice President and atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi said at the time that the plan to build the new plants was a response to the IAEA decision.

“The decision taken today is a firm reply to the indecent move by the five-plus-one in the latest IAEA meeting,” Salehi said on November 29, refering to the six world powers comprising the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany who backed the IAEA resolution.