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Ahmadinejad Dismisses U.S. Deadline for Nuke Deal

Iran is pressing ahead with its efforts to enrich uranium.

Iran's president this week dismissed a year-end deadline set by the Obama administration and the West for Tehran to accept a U.N.-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, and claimed his government is now "10 times stronger" than a year ago, the Associated Press reported. The international community can give Iran "as many deadlines as they want, we don't care," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to thousands of supporters. President Barack Obama has set a rough deadline of the end of this year for Iran to respond to an offer of dialogue and show that it will allay fears of weapons development. Washington and its allies are warning of new, tougher sanctions on Iran if it doesn't respond. Learn more about the importance of Iran sanctions.

House Votes 412-12 to Pass Major Iran Sanctions Bill

Iran is vulnerable to sanctions on refined petroleum.

By an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 412-12, the House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (IRPSA), which strengthens the president's authority to tell anyone who sells, ships or insures refined petroleum to Iran that they cannot do business in the United States. Iran is one of the largest oil exporters in the world, but because the theocratic regime in Tehran has grossly mismanaged the country's economy, Iran must import refined petroleum-gasoline for cars, etc. IRPSA targets this vulnerability. The House vote comes after Iran has repeatedly spurned President Obama's diplomatic overtures, instead choosing to press ahead with its efforts to enrich uranium-a key step toward building an atomic bomb.

The Senate is also moving ahead with its Iran sanctions bill. On Oct. 29, by a vote of 23 to 0, the Senate Banking Committee passed the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act (S. 2799), which includes the IRPSA (H.R. 2194) provisions. The bill awaits a vote by the full Senate.

Iran Making Advanced Centrifuges for Nuke Program

Iran continues its uranium enrichment program.

The head of Iran's nuclear program on Friday said the country is developing more efficient models of centrifuges to enrich uranium, the Associated Pressreported. "We are currently producing [a] new generation of centrifuges named IR3 and IR4," said Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi. "We hope to use them by early 2011 after resolving problems and defects." The move reflects Iran's ongoing defiance of the international community and its determination to advance its nuclear program despite repeated U.N. Security Council resolutions to halt its uranium enrichment, the key step required in producing nuclear weapons. The announcement comes just days after the House of Representatives passed the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, major legislation aimed at limiting Iran's ability to import and produce refined petroleum products.