Ali Akbar Salehi is quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying construction will start by the end of the Iranian calendar year in March.
Iran’s government has approved plans for 10 new enrichment facilities that can process uranium gas into fuel for nuclear power plants. The US and other nations fear Iran’s expansion of the technology because it can also be used to make material for nuclear warheads. Iran denies such an aim.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday passed a fourth sanctions resolution meant to curtail Iran’s nuclear activity.
Meanwhile, Iran’s opposition leader pledged on Saturday to continue the struggle against the government, even though the mass protest on the anniversary of last June’s disputed presidential election has been called off.
Mir Hossein Mousavi said the opposition will “continue our peaceful methods” to resist a government it decries as fraudulent. But the leader’s subdued tone also reflected the movement’s indecisiveness and powerlessness in the face of a violent government crackdown. Mousavi and another top opposition figure, Mahdi Karroubi, on Thursday called off the plan to take to the streets on the anniversary of the June 12 balloting, citing fears of violence and concerns for the lives of the protesters.
The opposition says at least 80 protesters have died so far in street clashes between security forces and protesters in the post-election turmoil _ Iran’s worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The authorities have put the figure at around 30.
Central Tehran streets were tense in the afternoon hours Saturday, as people left offices at the end of working hours. Saturday is the first day of the workweek in Iran. Hundreds of police were deployed on main junctions, but there were no signs of disturbances or public gatherings.
The government, which had warned that any unauthorized gatherings Saturday would be heavily confronted, said the extra deployments were part of regular maneuvers in Tehran.
Since last June 12, the opposition has claimed that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected through massive vote fraud and that Mousavi was the rightful winner. It rallied for months against the election results but was met by a heavy government crackdown.
Mousavi’s statement on Saturday said that while the opposition “may put off its presence in one arena,” it will persevere through other ways — a reference to staying away from street gatherings and attempting to find alternative ways for a political struggle. The statement on Kaleme.com cited Mousavi as saying that spreading the truth about the nature of Iran’s ruling establishment was the most potent weapon for the opposition now.
“We need to spread awareness, this is what they fear,” Mousavi said. “This is their vulnerable point. If we can spread awareness, there will be a huge popular force behind the demand for change.” He urged Iranians to distribute films, photos, video clips and cell phone footage of what’s really going on in the country.
“We have to expand social networks, websites, these are our best means,” Mousavi added. “These work like an army. This is our army against their military force.”
As with Mousavi’s statement on Saturday, dozens of Web posts and proclamations against Ahmadinejad and the ruling system are issued each day — but all they amount to is words against muscle.
The Iranian leaders appear to be far more secure on the anniversary of the election than during the tense weeks after the vote last June, when hundreds of thousands of protesters followed Mousavi through Tehran streets after allegations of massive ballot fraud to sink his Green Movement.
