Iran installs new generation uranium centrifuges

TEHRAN

AP Photo

Iran has announced that it started installing a new generation of uranium enrichment machines as experts from the U.N. atomic watchdog were holding talks in Tehran.

Iran started installing a new generation of uranium enrichment machines at its Natanz nuclear site last month, Iran’s atomic energy organization chief Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani said yesterday. The U.N. nuclear watchdog had told its member states that Iran had announced plans to install and operate advanced uranium enrichment machines, in what would be a technological leap allowing it to significantly speed up activity that the West fears could be used to develop a nuclear weapon.

Meanwhile, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and an Iranian nuclear team led by Tehran’s IAEA envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh began talks in Tehran aimed at reaching accord on inspections that would allow investigations into a possible military dimension of Iran’s nuclear drive. The discussions are taking place two weeks ahead of a new round of talks between Iran and six world powers in parallel diplomatic efforts, which are due to resume in Kazakhstan on Feb. 26 after an eight-month hiatus.