Confirming a recent report by the international nuclear energy watchdog, Iran has said it now runs more than 5,000 nuclear centrifuges at the country's uranium enrichment plant in Natanz and will install more. Iran also said it would continue to enrich uranium in order to produce nuclear fuel for the country's future nuclear power plants.
Gholam-Reza Aqazadeh, Chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, revealed the latest stand on its nuclear work expansion Wednesday.
"At present, we have more than 5,000 centrifuges operating," Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Aqazadeh as saying on the sidelines of his tour of the Exclusive Exhibition on Nuclear Industry Achievements.
This is a significant increase of more than 1,000 nuclear-materials-processing machines from the 4,000 Iran said was actively running three months ago.
Aqazadeh rejected repeated calls by the West to suspend Iran's controversial nuclear program, saying, "Suspension has no meaning at all in Iran's culture and no such a thing exists."
This is in defiance of U.N. demands that Tehran halt its dubious nuclear program. Iranian government insists that its uranium enrichment is meant for civilian purposes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in its latest report on Iran, said that it is set to complete the installation of nearly 6,000 centrifuges.
The agency also said that it had not been able to make any progress to get a clear picture of whether Iran had conducted research aimed at developing nuclear bombs due to the lack of cooperation from the country.
The 35-member governing board of the IAEA is scheduled to discuss the issue at a meeting in Vienna Thursday. It will also discuss a report on Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in Syria.
Low-level enriched uranium is used to produce nuclear fuel, but enrichment at higher levels makes it suitable for use in nuclear weapons.
It is estimated that Iran has obtained two tons of enriched uranium since its uranium enrichment activities restarted at the Natanz nuclear center two years ago.
Iran is already under international pressure to give up its nuclear work, facing the threat of a fifth round of UN sanctions. It is irked by the continuing interference by the West demanding transparency on the Islamic state's nuclear activities.
Aqazadeh's revelation coincides with reports that Iran has launched its second space rocket, the Kavosh 2, in a successful follow-up to the first launch in February.
State media said it would be followed by two more tests in preparation for the launching of an Iranian-built satellite into orbit.
Iran denies that its long-range ballistic technology is linked to its atomic program.
Washington referred to Iran's satellite launch early this year as "unfortunate," given the questions over its nuclear work.
Meanwhile, Iran expressed serious concern over the leak of confidential information about its nuclear activities from the IAEA.
IRNA says Iran's representative at the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltaniyeh, sent a letter to the agency's Director General Mohammad ElBaradei regarding the leak.
The objection refers to a report by the New York Times.
The leaking of information from the agency will lead to member states' mistrust in the sensitive international agency, the letter noted.
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