Iran has installed hundreds more centrifuges that could enable it to enrich uranium faster since May, a UN atomic watchdog report showed Wednesday, as long-stalled talks were due to resume.
“Iran has continued to install IR-2m centrifuges in one of the units” at the Natanz site, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in its quarterly report, seen by AFP.
The Islamic republic now has 1,008 high-tech IR-2M centrifuges, up from 698 cited in the IAEA’s last report in May.
The IR-2 centrifuges are of particular concern as they would allow Tehran to enrich uranium at a faster rate, allowing it to obtain the amount of fissile material needed for a nuclear bomb more quickly, if it wished.
Western countries suspect Iran is trying to develop an atomic bomb but Tehran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.
