TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran’s nuclear chief said Wednesday his nation had enriched uranium to the upper end of the range needed to make fuel for reactors, further defying U.S. and European demands to stop those efforts.

The announcement by nuclear chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh that Iran enriched uranium up to 4.8 percent purity tops Iran’s declaration last month that it had surpassed the 3.6 percent purity level. Uranium enriched to between 3.5 percent and 5 percent is used to make fuel for reactors to generate electricity.

Uranium enriched to more than 90 percent becomes suitable for use in nuclear weapons. Aghazadeh said Iran had no intention of enriching uranium beyond 5 percent.

International Atomic Energy Agency officials in Vienna, Austria, said they had no information about the claim.

The agency _ whose inspection powers have been curtailed in recent months by Iran _ said in a report to the U.N. Security Council on Friday that Iran’s claim to have enriched small amounts to the 3.6 percent level appeared to be true, based on initial analyses of samples it took.

Wednesday’s announcement, if true, is significant because it showed that Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of the Security Council, which asked Tehran last month to cease all such activity because of fears it could be misused to make nuclear arms.

The enrichment process takes gas produced from raw uranium and aims to increase its proportion of the uranium-235 isotope, needed for nuclear fission.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet starting Wednesday afternoon to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. European nations, backed by the United States, outlined a planned resolution in Paris on Tuesday giving “mandatory force” to IAEA demands.

While the resolution does not call for sanctions, that is likely to be the next step sought by the United States, Britain and France if Iran refuses to stop enriching uranium.

But Russia and China, the other veto-wielding council members, remained firmly oppose sanctions.

Meanwhile, Ali Larijani, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, denied that a reactor in Bushehr, near the Persian Gulf coast opposite Saudi Arabia, presented any danger to the region from an accident or other mishap. Gulf states have voiced concern that the nuclear plant is based on outdated Russian designs and would not be maintained.

“This is baseless … This plant does not emit any harmful radiation. It does not even contain any nuclear fuel yet,” the Emirates News Agency WAM quoted Larijani, who was visiting the United Arab Emirates, as saying late Tuesday.

“The whole row has been fabricated by the U.S.”

Larijani said it would be another year before nuclear fuel was brought to the plant.

Aghazadeh also said Wednesday that Iran had discovered uranium deposits in southern Iran near the port city of Bandar Abbas, a day after Iranian officials said they had found uranium ore at three new sites in the country’s center.

Iran announced April 11 it had enriched uranium for the first time. Tehran says its nuclear program is confined to generating power, but the United States and France accuse the country of secretly trying to build nuclear weapons.

Mohammad Ghannadi, deputy chief for nuclear research and technology, told a conference Tuesday in Qom, Iran, that the country’s political leadership had ordered him to ensure that enrichment did not go beyond 5 percent.

“We need enriched uranium to produce electricity … we have been given orders to enrich uranium only up to 5 percent,” he said.

The gas is pumped into a centrifuge, which spins, causing a small portion of the heavier, more prevalent uranium-238 isotope to drop away. The gas then proceeds to other centrifuges _ thousands of them _ where the process is repeated, increasing the proportion of uranium-235.

Enrichment typically starts out with a gas that is 0.7 percent uranium-235.

Aghazadeh, who also heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said Iran was planning vast investments to extract uranium from its newly discovered deposits.

“Experts at the Atomic Energy Organization are making plans to identify the country’s uranium reserves. It is predicted that we will have vast investments in various parts of the country,” he said.