NATANZ, Iran — Iran is prepared to start "industrial scale" enrichment of uranium, the vice president said today, expanding a key nuclear process that the United Nations has demanded the country halt.

The announcement came as Iran celebrated its first success in enriching small amounts of uranium at its Natanz enrichment facility in central Iran.

"Now we are entering the mass production of centrifuges and starting to launch industrial scale enrichment, another step toward the flourishing of Islamic Iran," Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh said at a ceremony at Natanz.

Aghazadeh, who heads Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, did not elaborate. Industrial-scale enrichment is the term Iran uses to mean a capability to produce greater levels of nuclear fuel — which would suggest Iran has increased the number of centrifuges working at Natanz.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was expected to speak later at the ceremonies and announce "good nuclear news," according to state-run TV. The Iranian press has speculated he will announce the installation of 3,000 centrifuges at Natanz.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Roadside bombs in southern Afghanistan on Sunday left seven NATO soldiers dead, the alliance said, as its forces continued an anti-Taliban offensive in the world's most fertile opium-producing region.Separately, a purported spokesman for the Taliban said the kidnapped translator for an Italian journalist was beheaded Sunday. The Afghan government confirmed the death.Six troops died and one was injured when one of the roadside bombs struck their vehicle, the alliance said in a statement. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed they were Canadian troops, Canadian Press reported.A separate roadside bomb Sunday killed one NATO soldier and wounded two, NATO said. Officials did not release the nationality of those soldiers. The Canadians' deaths appeared to be the biggest single combat loss for foreign troops in Afghanistan since June 2005, when a U.S. helicopter crashed, killing 16.