美国低调处理伊朗有关其核项目取得进展的说法，表示德黑兰感到了国际制裁的压力，企图转移人们对伊朗日益严重的外交孤立的关注。伊朗星期三表示，伊朗安装了用于铀浓缩的新一代离心机，并在德黑兰的研究反应堆中首次安装了国产核燃料棒。美国国务院发言人纽兰把伊朗宣布的消息斥之为“炒作”。以色列和西方国家怀疑，伊朗试图加快进行高纯度铀浓缩来制造核武器。伊朗说，浓缩铀是为了给核电站生产燃料以及用于医学研究。纽兰说，伊朗必须证明其核项目是用于民事目的。
伊朗欢呼这些成就是向掌握完整的核燃料循环工序迈进了一步，而联合国和西方国家希望借助制裁措施阻止这一进程。白宫发言人卡尼说，伊朗的宣告充满“挑衅”，是因为伊朗领导层和经济都受到制裁带来的“巨大压力”。以色列及其主要盟友美国拒绝排除采用军事行动阻止伊朗制造核武器的可能性。以色列认为伊朗拥有原子弹危及以色列的生存。
The United States has downplayed Iran's claims of advances in its nuclear program, saying Tehran is feeling the pressure of international sanctions and wants to distract from its growing diplomatic isolation. Iran said Wednesday it had installed a new generation of centrifuges to enrich uranium, and for the first time loaded domestically produced nuclear fuel into Tehran's research reactor. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland dismissed the announcements as "hype." Israel and Western powers suspect Iran is trying to speed up enrichment of uranium to the higher purity to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its enrichment activities are aimed at producing fuel for power plants and medical research. Nuland says Iran must show its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
Iran hailed the advances as a step toward mastering the complete nuclear fuel cycle, despite U.N. and Western sanctions aimed at stopping the process. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Iran is making "defiant" statements because its leadership and economy are under "enormous pressure" from sanctions. Israel and its chief ally the United States refuse to rule out military action to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Israel sees an Iranian atomic bomb as a threat to its existence.
