Speaking to tens of thousands in Tehran Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the first batch of 20% enriched uranium had already been produced in Iran, and that the country had the technology to enrich uranium to a level of up to 80% purity. "We are now a nuclear power," Ahmadinejad said at public celebrations of the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

Ahmadinejad dismissed talk of sanctions, saying that the West was simply looking for an excuse to start a fight with Iran, trying to deny Iran "its central role in the Middle East." He added that U.S. President Barack Obama opposes Iran because "he dances to the tune of the Zionist flutists."