(BBC news) - The United States has said Iran is "moving in the wrong direction" after its announcement that it has successfully enriched uranium. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran had become the latest nation with "nuclear technology".
A US spokesman said Iran's defiance of UN calls to cease nuclear activities isolated Iran and its people.
The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog is visiting Tehran on Wednesday to try to defuse the crisis.
Iran made its announcement on Tuesday, two months after resuming enrichment research in February.
In a televised speech, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear technology."