British Foreign Office made a statement on Tuesday, pressing Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment activities.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Monday that Iran "has joined the nuclear club of nations and can produce nuclear duel on an industrial scale."

In a statement, a British Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are concerned that Iran appears to have confirmed more nuclear enrichment activity. This is a further breach of IAEA and UNSC resolutions."

"Iran knows exactly what it must do -- comply with UNSC resolutions 1737 and 1747 by suspending all enrichment related and reprocessing activities before discussions can begin on assistance with modern civil nuclear power program," he said.

"The international community stands together in ensuring that Iran does not develop the means to acquire nuclear weapons," he added.

Observers have predicted that Ahmadinejad's announcement, which was opposite to the UN resolution demanding the halting of enrichment, would escalate the current tension between Iran and the West, just five days after the end of sailors detention crisis with Britain.

The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1747 at the end of last month, urging Iran to suspend uranium enrichment work "without further delay."

The new sanctions, moderately harsher than those included in previous resolutions on the Iranian nuclear issue, call for a ban of Iranian arms exports, a freeze of assets of an additional 28 individuals and entities involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

Source: Xinhua