BICOM

Iran announced yesterday that it had upgraded its centrifuges for enriching uranium at the Natanz nuclear plant, in a move which could significantly speed up the production of weapons-grade material.

According to the Iranian ISNA news agency, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation announced yesterday, “From last month the installation of the new generation of these machines started,” adding “We have produced the machines as planned and we are carrying out the installation gradually … to complete the tests.”

There are currently an estimated 10,000 centrifuges at Natanz capable of enriching uranium to four per cent, but the introduction of the new advanced centrifuges will fuel Western fears that Iran is increasingly able to upgrade uranium to 20 per cent, considered just a short step from weapons-grade material. The announcement comes just a day after an Iranian official said that some medium-enriched uranium was being converted into reactor fuel, effectively reducing its nuclear stockpile.

It also coincides with the latest visit of representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)to Iran, who are hoping to make progress in negotiations over visiting Iran’s nuclear facilities, particularly the Parchin site south-east of Tehran, where it is suspected that components needed to develop a nuclear weapon have been tested. An Iranian official said that the two sides had agreed on “some points.”

These latest developments come in advance of the resumption of parallel talks later this month to reach a broader diplomatic settlement between Iran and the so-called P5+1 powers – United States, UK, China, Russia, France and Germany – who are tasked with leading the international effort to resolve concerns over Tehran’s nuclear programme.