Iran may claim nuclear advance as U.S. announces direct participation in talks

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced "from now on," the U.S. would take part directly in international talks with Iran over its nuclear activities. Iranian President Ahmadinejad said his country would welcome direct engagement with the United States, providing Obama was 'honest.' Thursday, Ahmadinejad inaugurated a nuclear-fuel facility to produce pellets of uranium oxide to feed a heavy-water reactor facility. The facility was known and is legal. However, an opposition group announced Iran is also building a more-efficient generation of centrifuges at its Natanz site. Ivan Oelrich of the Ploughshares-funded Federation of American Scientists said while nothing is known about the new Iranian technology, it "could dramatically reduce the floor space you need to produce the enriched uranium and therefore potentially make it much easier to maintain a clandestine site."