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Rice on Iran: 'We can't let this continue'

Russia, Britain also blast Tehran's nuclear move

Gallery: Iran's nuclear facilities

• Iran announces nuke advancement

• Rumsfeld dismisses attack talk

• CNN Access: Hersh: U.S. mulls nuclear option

• Interactive: Enriching uranium

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that it is "time for action" on international demands for Iran to cease its uranium enrichment activities.

Iran said Tuesday it had enriched uranium at a level of concentration high enough to operate a nuclear power plant, defying last month's U.N. Security Council presidential statement calling for Tehran to suspend the program.

"When the Security Council reconvenes [later this month], I think it will be time for action," Rice said. "We can't let this continue."

Rice did not elaborate on what type of action the Security Council should take, but senior State Department officials said it could include a move to impose a travel ban against Iranian officials and freezing assets of the regime.

The latter is already in effect in the United States, but a U.N. resolution would mean all 185 U.N. members would have to also freeze assets of the Iranian regime.

The head of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency arrived Wednesday in Tehran for talks he hopes will defuse the tension over Iran's program, according to The Associated Press. He told reporters he was optimistic about the discussions.

"The time is right for a political solution, and the way is negotiations," Mohamed ElBaradei told journalists at Mehrabad International Airport, AP reported. "I would like to see Iran come to terms with the requests of the international community."

He further said the purpose of his trip is "to clarify remaining outstanding issues on the nature of the Iranian program," according to AP.

Foreign ministers in Russia and Britain on Wednesday joined the United States in expressing concern about Iran's announcement.

"Definitely, this is a step in the wrong direction," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Krivtsov. "It runs counter to the [IAEA] board of governors resolutions and a statement by the U.N. Security Council president."

British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said he was "seriously concerned" by Iran's declaration and urged Tehran to suspend its sensitive nuclear work and return to talks.

"The latest Iranian statement further undermines international confidence in the Iranian regime and is deeply unhelpful," Straw said Wednesday in a statement. (Full story)

The West, led by the United States, believes that Iran plans to build nuclear weapons and says the move only underscores why the global community has serious concerns about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. (Watch what Iran's announcement could mean in the future -- 2:06)

Iran has said it has a right to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes.

"This latest announcement is a step that is further going to isolate Iran," Rice said. "It demonstrates that Iran is not adhering to the international community's requirements, and I do think the Security Council will need to take into consideration this move by Iran.

"And it will be time when it reconvenes on this case for strong steps to make certain we maintain the credibility of the international community."

Rice said that Iran had failed on "many opportunities to negotiate in good faith."

IAEA still in talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia still supports a diplomatic solution. (Full story)

"We back more intensive contacts between Iran and the IAEA and urge Iran to cooperate actively," Lavrov told reporters.

"I would not make any conclusions in haste," he added. "Emotions run high too often over the Iranian nuclear program. As I've said on many occasions, Russia's task is to rule out violations of the nuclear weapons nonproliferation regime."

At the United Nations, China called on Tehran to suspend enrichment, but reiterated its opposition to any punitive measures against Iran, according to a report from The Associated Press.

Rice spokesman Sean McCormack said the secretary called ElBaradei in advance of his meeting in Tehran.

Talks between Iran and Britain, France and Germany stalled in January when Iran began small-scale uranium enrichment and ended its voluntary cooperation with the IAEA, which had been conducting surprise inspections.

IAEA inspectors are at a facility in Natanz, Iran, but it is unclear whether they witnessed the enrichment process, which took place Sunday. (Uranium enrichment explainer)

Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's atomic energy agency, said Natanz had used an array of 164 centrifuges to enrich uranium at 3.5 percent -- a low-grade level sufficient to run a power plant but far below the 90 percent required for weapons.

On Wednesday, Iran's deputy nuclear chief said his country intends to increase production at Natanz to the facility's full capacity of 54,000 centrifuges.

Mohammad Saeedi told Iran's Mehr News Agency that at full capacity, Natanz would provide enough low-grade uranium to operate a 1,000-megawatt power station.

Saeedi gave no timetable to reach the 54,000-centrifuge operation but said the country would have 3,000 centrifuges operational by next March.

Nuclear weapons require many thousands of centrifuges.

"They have a long, long way to go," said Joseph Cirincione, director for nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "What they may have achieved, and we'll know for certain after we get reports from the international inspectors in a couple of weeks, is they enriched a minuscule amount of uranium."

Cirincione said Iran likely is at least four to five years away from enriching enough uranium to build its first nuclear weapon.

But he said, "I don't think you can trust the Iranians that this program is only for peaceful purposes.

"Most countries that enrich uranium do so when they have 20 or more [nuclear power] reactors," he said. "Iran hasn't even opened up its first."

According to the IAEA, 31 nations have nuclear power plants, either in operation or under construction.

Bush administration officials say they are pursuing a diplomatic solution with Iran even as they have been fending off questions over a report in this week's issue of The New Yorker magazine that preparations for military strikes on Iran -- possibly including nuclear weapons -- have gone "beyond contingency planning." ( Watch how Iran poses much different diplomatic obstacles than Iraq -- 2:00)

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dismissed the article by journalist Seymour Hersh as a trip to "fantasyland."

"Let me be clear: The department's policy is the president's policy," Rumsfeld said. "President Bush and America's allies are on a diplomatic track." (Full story)

CNN's Elise Labott and Journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report.