TEHRAN–International pressure for new sanctions against Iran grew Monday after Tehran announced plans to make higher-enriched uranium starting Tuesday and add 10 nuclear sites in a year.
The announcement raised Western fears Iran wants to develop atom bombs.
The U.S. and France led calls for what would be a fourth, broader set of punitive sanctions, while a senior lawmaker in Russia, which in the past has urged talks rather than punishment, said economic measures should be considered.
A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called Iran's announcement "a provocative move" that was in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and risked increasing regional instability.
Among the big powers, only China, which can block any UN sanctions with its veto on the Security Council, has remained unswervingly opposed to punishing the big Middle Eastern oil exporter.
Iran says uranium enrichment is part of its program to generate electricity, not make nuclear bombs.
Possible targets for any new sanctions include Iran's central bank, the Revolutionary Guards who Western powers say are key to Iran's nuclear program, shipping firms and its energy sector, Western diplomats say.
Analysts said Iran would need a few months to reconfigure a plant to refine uranium to higher purity and that it lacked the technical means to build 10 more sites in the foreseeable future.
