(Image source: Iran’s Presidency Website)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR ANTHONY MARTINEZ

While the U.S. and Iran continue to throw verbal javelins over the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media are reporting a big advancement in the nation’s uranium enrichment program -- raising suspicions about its nuclear program.

KTVU says an underground plant, kept secret until 2009, is up and running.

“A newspaper closely connected to Iran’s rulers say the enrichment is being done at a well-protected underground facility. It says the site is at the Fordo facility built deep inside a mountain. This is to protect the project from any aerial attacks.”

But, the news is a little jumbled. An Iranian newspaper says production had already begun, and at the same time Iran’s nuclear chief said it will start soon. Either way, the Fordo facility will be up and running in the near future, enriching uranium up to 20 percent.

Al Jazeera explains why the new facility is a big deal.

“Iran is already refining uranium to a fissile purity of 20 per cent -- far more than ... usually required to power nuclear energy plants -- above ground at another location. ... Iran is moving this higher-grade enrichment to Fordow in an apparent bid to better protect the work against any enemy attacks. It also plans to sharply boost output capacity.”

Iranian news sources claim the 20 percent enriched uranium is used at a Tehran research reactor to create materials used in cancer treatment. But Fox News analyst John Bolton says 20 percent is dangerously close to weapons levels.

John Bolton: “Well, when you enrich to reactor-grade, 3-5 percent of U235, you’re actually ⅔ of the way in terms of energy use to getting to weapons-grade enrichment levels of 90 percent. It may sound strange with those numbers, but in fact that’s the way it works. So getting up to 20 percent gets you about 75 percent of the way to weapons-grade.”

International debate over Iran’s nuclear program has intensified in recent weeks, with Iran’s new tough talk over the straight of Hormuz. But CNN’s Fareed Zakaria says Iran is actually in a weakened state, with a crippled economy and splintered politics.

“Iran’s nuclear program is making progress. This is inevitable, nuclear technology is 70 years old. Iran has a serious scientific and technological community. And it does see the nuclear program as an emblem of national security and pride. But do we think of North Korea as strong and on the rise because it has a few crude nuclear weapons?”

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Iran hasn’t yet started building a nuclear weapon, but continues to lay the groundwork. Iran maintains it is only developing nuclear technology to generate electricity.