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Iran's newly disclosed nuclear fuel facility will soon become operational, an aide to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying on Saturday.

"This new plant, God willing, will soon become operational and will make the enemies blind," Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpayegani, who heads Khamenei's office, said, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency. Mohammadi-Golpayegani, a cleric, said the construction of the plant was a sign of Iran being at the "summit of power," Fars reported. He was speaking at a ceremony marking the start of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

Meanwhile Friday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Israel "will not dare attack Iran" and that if Israel does, "the Iranians can defend themselves." We are not concerned [about an Israeli attack]. Iran is a very big country. Much larger and bigger than what some people think and imagine," Ahmadinejad told a news conference.

"It's not a secret site. If it was, why would we have informed the IAEA about it a year ahead of time," Ahmadinejad said. "They [the United States, Britain and France] will regret this announcement." The statement came after Ahmadinejad said Iran was not obliged to tell the Obama administration of every uranium enrichment plant it has, turning up the heat in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

Following the revelation of a second uranium enrichment plant in Iran, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor issued the following statement:
"Iran is a real-time security threat to the United States, Israel, and our allies around the world. A nuclear Iran is closer than many thought it was yesterday, and the problem is getting worse by the day, not better.

Egypt's foreign minister is warning that a nuclear-capable Israel and an Iran pursuing nuclear weapons could trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.