Russia has joined the United States in condemning Iran's announcement it had enriched uranium in defiance of a call by the United Nations to halt its nuclear programme.
Russia's Foreign Ministry had described the programme as a step in the wrong direction which Tehran should halt.
The UN said Iran must halt uranium enrichment, while the White House said Tehran was moving in the wrong direction with its nuclear programme.
The US State Department Spokesman, Sean McCormack, said the latest step taken in defiance of the UN Security Council would further isolate Iran in the international community.
The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed El Baradei, is to travel to Iran today.
Iran's announcement was made yesterday in Tehran by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said his country would now press ahead with industrial-scale enrichment.
It is widely believed in the West that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons - a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied.
