Iran will start enriching uranium to the higher level of 20 percent on Tuesday, according to Iranian state television. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Sunday he had issued orders to this effect but not when the process would begin.

Iran continues to insist its nuclear programme is purely for energy generation at the two nuclear power plants it is building. 20 percent uranium cannot be used to manufacture nuclear weapons, that requires at least 90 percent enrichment.
 

For a while it looked as though Tehran would agree to the United Nations proposal that it allow its uranium to be enriched abroad to not more than three percent, which is sufficient to generate power.

Iran's latest move has already elicited protests from the United States and Great Britain.
 

 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad (photo: midnightquill/Flickr)